Byakuya's Schemes
by crazy alligator
Summary: Renji and Rukia love eachother, but neither will fess up about it to the other. Byakuya, of course, sees this. What happens when everybody's favorite nobleman decides to do something about it? RenRuki, rated T for some swearing.
1. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 1

Hey, crazy alligator here! Well, this my first fic posted on the internet, but not my first fic ever written. I have a ton of documents saved to my computer, and some are going to go onto the site. I had a real dilemma deciding if I wanted to post something I had saved or writing something new, but I eventually decided on the latter. Note, this has not been beta-d. There is no really specific time this is set, it's really just some time after the winter war. Enjoy!

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 1

Renji abruptly spit out his mouthful of tea, frantically reading the letter over again, his eyes scanning every word, every character carefully to make sure he wasn't making a mistake. His captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, THE Byakuya Kuchiki, was inviting him to dinner. At his manor. Tonight.

"Well, Renji," asked said noble, standing before the man, waiting for an answer. "You will be in attendance, correct?" His held his stoic gaze, not once removing it from the wide-eyed man in front of him.

Renji still had a difficult time processing this, keeping his eyes on the decorated paper, which was soaked in tea and saliva, and which he still clutched tightly in his hands. He couldn't think straight, let alone respond to his superior. He was in total disbelief, and, just for a moment, he remembered the time when his captain had made a joke. To him, this was the same thing, just a million times more unbelievable.

Byakuya could tell that his lieutenant was in total shock, so he simply said, "I am going to accept your silence as a yes. The time we start is 6:00 P.M. Sharp. And I mean sharp, is that clear?" Eyes still bugging out of his head, Renji forced himself to nod so as not to be disrespectful. "Excellent. The dress is casual." With that, the noble turned and made his way to the shoji door to depart. Before he did, though, he turned his head back to his still-in-shock lieutenant and said, "One more thing, Renji."

Renji willed himself to look up, into the emotionless eyes of his captain to receive the add-on to the information.

"Rukia will also be in attendance."

Renji's breath caught, and if his eyes were capable of being widened more, Byakuya was sure that they would have. Yes, that was it. He would definitely come now. Closing the door behind him, Byakuya allowed himself a small smile and mentally patted himself on the back for completing phase one of his operation. Oh yes, this was going to be fun.

* * *

Renji opened the door to his room, plopping down on the nearest chair, not even bothering to close, let alone lock said door. He was trying desperately to think of reasons why his captain would just invite him to dinner out of the blue, so suddenly. There weren't any holidays coming up, no birthdays or special events. After about an hour he gave up, dragging himself upstairs to pick out something decent for tonight. Regardless of whether he knew the reason for it or not, he was still going. Especially if Rukia was going to be there. God, how he wished he could confess his feelings and sweep her off her feet(Even though there was the possibility that she could reject him). But no. He couldn't do that, at least not until he proved himself worthy. For now, he would have to settle with simply eating a friendly dinner with his best friend in the world. Opening his closet, he shuffled through all of his garments, trying to find one nice enough for the occasion. His captain had said it was casual, thank god, because he didn't own anything that could match up to the splendor of noble garb.

Picking out a dull orange yukata with red flowers on it, he ultimately decided that said yukata was the best decision. Taking the yukata downstairs to change into it later, he opened up liquor cabinet and took out a bottle off sake. Popping off the cork with his teeth, he took a swig, wiping his mouth off afterward. Even though Rukia was going to be there, he was going to need some alcohol in his system to survive a night of eating dinner with his captain without passing out from nervousness.

* * *

Rukia sighed as a servant did her hair up with a clip. She still had a hard time believing it. Her brother had mentioned the idea of having Renji over the previous night, and she had been internally shocked by the suggestion, but agreed to it nonetheless. Thinking back, it was a good thing Rukia had learned the skill of hiding one's emotions from her brother, because if she hadn't, she was sure that she would have chocked on her food when he brought it up. Even though it was surprising(to say the least), she was happy about it. She often thought about how much she loved that big oaf, but knew that making a move would cause something bad to happen, something controversial, something that would tarnish images or ruin reputations. She was afraid of something like that to happen, something that would get both of them in trouble. She was fine with herself being in trouble, heck, you couldn't get much worse than nearly being executed, but she knew that Renji didn't deserve to have anything messed up in his life. And sometimes she thought that a little part of her was also afraid of rejection, of him not returning her strong feelings for him. She set her thoughts aside, though, as the servants ushered her out of the room to pick a kimono. She was glad that this wasn't formal, or she would have had to put on makeup and had all kinds of expensive combs in her hair and so many layers of clothing that she would have suffocated.

After deciding on a purple kimono with tree branches and cherry blossom petals winding around it, she returned to her room with a servant to put it on. She was sure that, with her brother and best friend eating at a table, this was going to be a long, and possibly entertaining, night.

* * *

Byakuya was walking by the eleventh division, waiting for his contact. He saw them winding around the corner, air tense and heavy, reiatsu serious and dense.

"Do you have the payment?" they asked, stopping beside him, facing the opposite direction.

"You remember the job, correct?" asked Byakuya, mimicking the seriousness.

"Yeah. Cause a commotion. Get everyone distracted. Clean up afterward if something goes bad. Am I wrong?"

"No, that's it to a dot. The first half of the payment is in your office. You will receive the second half after tonight," he replied. The servants would think it was real, and they knew the protocol for said situations. Tell the head of the household the details first, and only tell anyone else that he tells them to tell. The plan would be perfect.

After the statement, the contact ran off toward the first half of their reward, probably to make sure it was legit. It was. Byakuya had made sure of it.

* * *

Welcome, Abarai-fukutaicho!" said a female servant who greeted Renji at the door. "Allow me to lead you to the dining room. Byakuya-sama and Rukia-sama are waiting there right now." The servant had a faint blush on her cheeks, which Renji took as a sign that he looked good, a fact that he was glad about. The servant showed him to a door and quickly left after. He opened it and was met with the sight of his emotionless-as-usual captain and a beautifully-clad Rukia. He really was amazed at her appearance, and knew that it would be a test of his willpower to not stare. Sitting down in seiza at the table, he spoke, "Good evening taicho, Rukia."

"There is no need to address us so formally, Renji," said Byakuya. Both Renji and Rukia were surprised by this statement, but stayed calm.

"If you say so, captain," replied Renji. The three began to converse, mostly small talk between Renji and Byakuya, however Renji and Rukia talked like they usually did, like very good friends, which they were, and Byakuya didn't seem to care or even notice. Eventually the tea was brought out and when it was, Byakuya readied himself.

And, sure enough, right on cue, a servant opened the door, bowing respectfully.

"I apologize for interrupting, Byakuya-sama, you are needed for an urgent matter," said the servant.

"How long will this take?" he asked.

"Probably a while," replied the servant, still bowing.

Byakuya stood up, following the servant out of the room. "It appears that I will not be present for the rest of this. Please enjoy yourselves and the food while I attend to this. With that Byakuya departed, and when they could hear his footsteps disappear down the hallway, Renji scooted over next to Rukia to discuss what the hell was going on.

"Rukia, could you please tell me why Kuchiki-taicho invited me over here?" he asked her.

"Honestly, I don't know," she replied. "It surprised me just as much when he mentioned it." She noticed that he was staring at her and couldn't help but taunt him about it when she added, "And, by the way, may I ask why your staring at me like a buffoon?"

Renji blushed and turned his head away. "I am not!"

Rukia laughed at his childish behavior, noticing that he looked pretty handsome himself. But before anything else could be said, there was a knock on the door.

"Your dinner is ready," came the muffled voice of a male servant from the other side.

"Come in," they said simultaneously, as Renji moved back to his spot and the two composed themselves. The servant entered, placing down a platter with several pieces of sushi arranged in a heart on the table, then quickly left.

Both Renji and Rukia's faces went completely and utterly red at the sight that greeted them.

"Uh, Rukia...is the food always shaped like a heart,"asked Renji, pointing to the platter of sushi while avoiding her gaze.

"N-No," she replied, also looking away. Neither of them knew what was going on, but before they could comprehend the situation the lights suddenly went dim, and two tiles on the ceiling opened up. Out of them came rose petals which scattered all around the room, accompanied by romantic music. At this point both of them were blushing madly and uncontrollably, and Rukia had her legs pulled up to her chest in embarrassment, face buried in her hands.

"R-Renji," she asked.

"Y-yeah," he asked, barely able to speak, let alone look at Rukia at all.

"D-Do you want to l-leave now?" she asked, giving both of them an opportunity to get out of this highly embarrassing situation.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," he said, standing up and swiftly exiting the room.

Rukia waited a few minutes before standing up, face still red beyond belief, and walking out the door. This had to be some kind of prank or joke. It had to be! No one in the Kuchiki house would ever do it, she knew that. She was going to inform nii-sama but before she could get two steps away from the door, he appeared in front of her.

Noting the tint of pink on her cheeks from the incident, Byakuya asked, "Where is Renji?"

"He left," she replied. From the situation and her tone Byakuya could tell that nothing had transpired between the two but embarrassment. Internally cursing himself, Byakuya thought that maybe he shouldn't have been so straightforward...

Not bothering to ask why Renji left, Byakuya simply began walking towards his room.

"Nii-sama, wait," said Rukia. She blushed. "I think someone pulled something in the dining room because-" Byakuya cut off Rukia's statement as he opened the door to the room, revealing it to be clean and tidy, the way it had been when the captain of the sixth division had left. _Impressive_, Byakuya thought to himself. _Yachiru has done well._

Rukia gaped, staring in disbelief at the spotless room. Not wanting to make her brother think she was crazy, though, she simply told him that she must have been mistaken and departed to her quarters. Byakuya did the same, and on the way, he made a mental note to make his Renji-and-Rukia-getting-together plans more subtle, and for the umpteenth swearing to himself that, one way or another, he would succeed in having them confess their love to each other. Someday.

END OF FIRST CHAPTER

Yay, the first chapter! *Jumps up and down in excitement* I'm so happy because I wrote this all in one go, and it took forever, but it was worth it! I will try to get the next chapter up within a week or two. Hope you enjoyed, and I would really like to know what you guys think. And, oh yeah, I just remembered I have to do a disclaimer _ I don't own Bleach at all, or any of the characters. Trust me, if I did, Renji and Rukia would have gotten together a long time ago and had beautiful red-haired babies. ^_^ Bleach is the sole property of Tite Kubo.


	2. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 2

Yay, chapter 2! I always get so motivated to write whenever I go and check the hits and reviews! I would like to thank everyone who read my story! Thanks you guys! Ok, so, without further ado, the second installment of Byakuya's schemes! (Also this has not been beta-d)

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 2

Rukia walked slowly towards the library, enjoying the cool and calm breeze. Things were finally reverting back to normal after her and Renji not being able to even be in the same room with each other for days due to the...incident. It was still a little awkward, but they had to try and keep calm in public so no one would suspect anything. The both of them knew that much without even having to discuss it, all they had to do was look each other in the eye on an occasional pass-by in the hallway and they would make a silent pact to keep it their little secret, a fact which warmed her heart. The fact that they didn't have to verbally communicate things, that their eyes could just meet and they could understand each other, the fact that...Rukia zoned out into her shoujo fantasy and a small blush decorated her face until...WHAM!

"Ow, what the..." Rukia said, dazed, before realizing shortly after that she had walked smack-dab into the door of the library. Making a note to herself to pay better attention, she slowly slid open the door open, said door creaking eerily as she did, so much so she thought it would crumble into sawdust and blow away if she stressed it any further. Cracking it open as small as possible for entry, she slipped inside, quickly closing it behind her. The sight that met her caused her eyes to widen. This place must not have been used in centuries! There was dust and cobwebs everywhere, not to mention a few spiders, and the only light that existed came from the holes in the ceiling. A creaky door was one thing, but THIS...Rukia figured she shouldn't be surprised, for this was an old library and the only reason she was here was because her captain had asked her to retrieve some old documents that wouldn't be kept in the newer libraries.

Deciding that she should start looking and leave before the place collapsed on her, Rukia walked over to a bookshelf, pushing countless amounts of cobwebs aside on her way, and stood up on her tip toes to reach one of the top shelves. Retrieving a book that looked like what Ukitake-taicho had described, she pulled it down in front of her, expecting to see the front cover, but being met with the sight of a thick layer of dust. Rukia sighed exasperatedly, causing all the tiny particles of dust to fly up in the air and form a stuffy cloud around her head. This caused her to cough immediately, and she waved one of her hands around to disperse the could while her other hand clutched the book to her chest.

"Good lord..." she mumbled when she couldn't see the specks of dust anymore. This absolutely sucked, she wasn't in here one minute and things already weren't in her favor. Looking down at the cover of the book, she sighed again when she realized it wasn't the right one. Setting it carefully back on the shelf, she continued on with her task.

* * *

Abarai Renji's ponytail blew in the breeze as he made his way miserably to the old run-down library that contained all the books and documents that no one in soul society even batted an eye at anymore. But, of course, HIS taicho needed a book from this library, and he wouldn't have minded it so much except the frickin' library was on the other side of the frickin' soul society! Even cutting straight through, it was a pretty far distance, and his feet were sore and tired. Not to mention he was sick and tired of replying to the lower seated shinigami that looked up to him and would greet him with an enthusiastic, 'Ohayo, Lieutenant Abarai!' every time he passed. He was used to it happening a few times in a day, and he really did admire their enthusiasm(it reminded him of himself in those days), it just got so annoying! But upon seeing that he had almost reached his destination, he calmed down. Soon he would be able to just sit down and take a rest. Reaching the door, he hastily slid it open in typical Renji fashion, not even bothering to stop in front, and saw the last thing he would've ever expected to see.

"Rukia!" The small girl jumped, turning around as her foot made contact with the floor again. When it did, though, the impact caused that section of the floor to give out, and her foot went right through it.

"Dammit, Renji, look what you made me do!" she yelled, violently trying to pull her foot out, but to no avail. "God, now it's stuck!" She continued trying to desperately yank her foot free as Renji rushed over to her.

"I-I'm sorry Rukia I didn't mean to!" he repeated the apology over and over as he grabbed a hold of her, also trying to pull her out.

"Ouch, baka, you're pulling too hard!" she yelled, she was so angry she couldn't think straight.

"I'm sorry!" he apologized again, and immediately stopped pulling. God, what were they going to do!

* * *

Ukitake's phone rang. Said sickly captain picked it up almost immediately.

"Ukitake?"

Ah, yes, this was the call he was expecting. "Ah, Kuchiki-taicho. If your calling to confirm what I think you are, them the answer is yes." Ukitake wore a huge grin on his face as they spoke.

"You sent her? And your sure she went?"

"Of course I sent her, and you know Rukia, she never stops when she's on a mission, however small it is." Ukitake was in a good mood today, and there happened to be a particular reason why.

"Good. I sent Renji and even though he's been known to dilly-dally, he'll get it done. Goodbye now." The phone hung up, and Ukitake put it back, leaning back into his chair to relax for a moment and remembering when Byakuya had come to him the night before.

FLASHBACK

"_Kuchiki-taicho!" exclaimed Ukitake as he opened the door to the sixth squad captain in his night clothing, rubbing his eyes to make sure it wasn't a dream. "What are you doing her in the middle of the night?" questioned the white-haired man as his fellow captain entered, sitting down in the nearest chair. Byakuya didn't answer, simply sat there. So Ukitake quickly made up some tea and brought it out, handing Byakuya a warm cup of it and holding one for himself._

"_Kuchiki-taicho, may I ask what the problem is?" asked Ukitake, sitting down across from him._

"_There is no problem," the noble assured. "But there is an urgent matter which I require your assistance in."_

"_And that would be...?"_

_Lines of frustration appeared on Byakuya's face as he scoured his mind for ways to phrase what he was asking so as not to sacrifice his reputation. "Well, you see...for a while now, I have noticed that my sister and lieutenant...have certain feelings for one another..."_

"_Continue," said Ukitake, when Byakuaya paused. He himself knew exactly what he was talking about. He had also seen it between the two for a long while, ever since Rukia joined his division even. And he had a feeling where Byakuya was going with this..._

"_Recently," began Byakuya. "I have been trying to...push the two of them together so that they may confess these...feelings to each other, and you yourself must be of the knowledge that I cannot do something like this publicly because of my family image."  
_

"_So you want me to help?" asked Ukitake._

"_Precisely."_

"_Of course," replied Ukitake immediately. "I will assist you as best as I can, in any way I can. Those two do deserve to be happy. If you need anything for this, anything at all, just ask, and I will help."_

_Then, Kuchiki Byakuya spoke words seldom heard from his lips. "Arigato, Ukitake," he said. "For now, there is only one thing I need, and that is..."_

END OF FLASBACK

Ukitake smiled. He truly did hope the best for Renji and Rukia, and he hoped that Byakuya's plan would work.

* * *

An idea sprang to Renji's head. Why hadn't he thought of it before! "Rukia, wait a minute, hold still," he said, trying to calm her. Rukia, surprisingly, stopped thrashing around to listen. Renji didn't say anything, instead bent down further until he could reach the ground.

"R-Renji?" asked Rukia. "What are you doing?" Rukia turned her head around, trying to see what the hell Renji was doing. The redhead gently grabbed her ankle, then slowly began maneuvering her foot out of the hole, careful not to let the fractured wood splinter her, and Rukia could feel the heat starting to rise up to her cheeks. When she was completely free, Renji held her up against his chest, her feet dangling off the ground. Renji wasn't even thinking about all the reasons why he should immediately put her down, all he was worried about was that she was okay.

"Rukia, are you gonna be alright to walk?" he asked softly, still hugging her lovingly against his chest. By now a blush had risen on Rukia's face and she was thankful that her head was buried in his chest so that he wouldn't see it. She couldn't find the words to answer him, she felt so warm and so peaceful. She knew that she should be pushing him away or jumping from his grasp, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Finally, though, she willed herself to reply,

"I'm okay, Renji. I-I'll be fine." With that Renji breathed a sigh of relief and gently set her back down on the ground.

When Rukia felt her feet touch a solid surface again, she immediately turned away from Renji to hide her still flaming cheeks. It was a blow to Renji, though. For just a minute, he felt his heart drop, but quickly composed himself.

"So, uh, Rukia..." he began. "...what are you here for?"

"To find a book, obviously," she replied, trying to reinstate their usual communication of sarcasm and mocking so her face would cool off. But it was so hard, for she could still feel the warmth of his arms, and-_stop it, stop it, STOP IT!_ She scolded herself.

Before Renji could retort, she said, "I'm here to find a book for Ukitake-taicho. It's red and has brown markings in it. It's titled, 'Roundabout Almanac'." Rukia honestly didn't know how someone could come up with such a ridiculous name for a book.

"So," she continued their conversation, "I assume nii-sama sent you here for something?"

"Yep," he replied. "A black book with purple markings called 'Ruminous Kultz'."

It was silent after that, the air still awkward, and Renji walked beside Rukia to search. It felt like an eternity to both of them, their feelings welling up inside until neither could take it anymore.

"Oi...Renji?" asked Rukia, the red returning to her face, but Renji not noticing because he didn't look down to her.

"Yeah?" he asked. His stomach was churning inside of him and he was sure that his cheeks were stained scarlet.

"There's something...that I need to tell you..." she could practically feel her face getting redder each second. Renji didn't answer, couldn't answer, a small flicker of hope shot through him and he totally forgot about finding the book.

"Well...you see...I-"

The door suddenly opened, both Renji and Rukia's heads snapping towards it to see the cause of the sudden intrusion. It was Isane Kotetsu.

"Oh, uh...Abarai-fukutaicho, Kuchiki-san...I'm very sorry if I interrupted anything, but...Unohana-taicho sent me here to fetch some old medical books and-"

"-I-It's okay, Kotetsu-san, we were just leaving ourselves, weren't we, Renji?" said Rukia.

"Uh, right!" interjected Renji, both shinigami flying out the door, leaving a dumbfounded Isane behind.

Rukia took a deep breath, calming herself, and only now fully realizing how close she had come to letting her secret out. "Bye Renji!" she said quickly, running down the path that led to the thirteenth division before Renji could even get a word in edgewise. He sighed, heading back to his quarters. He really did hope that Rukia was going to say those three words to him that he had always longed to hear from her, but guessed by that by the way that she run off that he was mistaken. Not wanting to feel depressed, though, he banished those thoughts from his mind. He was really gonna have to use his imagination to come up with a story about why he didn't have the book.

END OF SECOND CHAPTER

Woo! That took about 3 hours, but again, it's all worth it! Yes, I know, this chapter had a good amount of fluffiness *hearts * I love fluff. XD Anyways, hope you guys liked it, and please let me know your thoughts. Also, 5 brownie points to anyone who noticed what I did with the books they had to pick out. Crap, almost forgot the stupid disclaimer again...I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo does, my like sucks... Anyways, thanks for reading, I love you all!


	3. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 3

Okay, chapter 3! What will happen? No one knows, not even me. Anyways, though, thanks for the support on this story guys, I love you all! And I'm glad because a lot of people seem to really like it, too. This chapter is going to have less comedy and be a little more serious and a little angsty, by the way. Also, be expecting a halloween fic, which I will post on halloween, so this sunday. Now on with the madness!

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 3

Rukia tossed and turned in her bed. She was trying to go to sleep, but the thought just kept nagging at her, eating away until she just couldn't take it anymore. She remembered back to the earlier post-library encounter with her captain.

FLASHBACK

"_U-Ukitake taicho?" said Rukia in a small, guilty voice as she slowly slid open the shoji door. "I'm very sorry...I couldn't find the book...and I would've kept searching, but...something came up and-"_

"_-Oh, Rukia, it's not a problem!" cut in her captain enthusiastically. He stared at her confused and still guilty face for a moment. "And don't look so melancholy! I didn't really need that old thing that much anyways!" Rukia was dumbfounded. Her captain didn't seem nearly as sick as he usually was, heck, if she didn't know better, she'd have thought he was cured, and he was happier than she had ever seen him._

"_So..." Ukitake continued in a expectant voice, "Did anything unusual happen, something you maybe weren't expecting?" Ukitake seemed strange today...Rukia noticed that he had a wide grin on his face, like he knew something she didn't. Also, the tone of his voice...it was like he was expecting the encounter between herself and Renji..._

"_No, captain, nothing strange in particular," she answered. At this point Rukia had forgotten all about the events that had really taken place, and was just trying to test him._

_Ukitake's smile faded a bit. "Very well, then," he said. He was still being happy, but Rukia could tell that his actual amount of glee had decreased considerably. He added, "You can go home for the day, Rukia."_

"_H-Hai," she said, leaving promptly. On her way back her captain's actions kept bugging her. What had he been hoping for? _

END OF FLASHBACK

And now Rukia was losing sleep over it. She was beginning to suspect that...no, he couldn't...could he? Was her captain...planning to get her and Renji together? But then she thought back to the dinner...he had been completely normal around that time...it hadn't been until the library conversation earlier that he had been acting so strangely. Was he maybe...brought in on it? And, if so, then who originally planned it? Were her feelings that obvious? And did people think...that Renji had feelings for her? And if he did, then were his that obvious? Was she so dense she couldn't see it? These thoughts wracked Rukia's mind as she lay on the futon, fighting for sleep. Finally she looked at her clock. 3:00 A.M. Dammit. She decided she had to do something.

Picking up her phone, Rukia dialed Renji's number, typing in each number slowly and slightly struggling to remember it. She stayed silent as she heard the beeps and waited for her redheaded friend to pick up. After what seemed like an eternity, he did.

"Rukia? What the hell's going on?" Renji's voice was tired, and Rukia could tell that he had picked up the phone immediately as soon as he was awake. He didn't seem angry, though, he just seemed concerned.

"Renji, there's something important we need to talk about tomorrow. You need to meet me at the training area in the thirteenth division at noon, okay?" Rukia herself was tired from lack of sleep, but was trying to hide it.

"Okay, sure," Renji replied. He seemed even more worried.

"Thanks, bye," Rukia hung up the phone before Renji could get a word in and laid back down on the futon, staring at the ceiling. Her major concern now wasn't really if anyone was plotting anything, it was if Renji really, truly had feelings for her. If someone was trying to get them together, then they had surely noticed something...Rukia began flashing back to all of her memories of Renji...when they were children, the academy...when she was almost executed...how tight he had held her then, declaring to Aizen that he would have to fall before she would be harmed...Rukia grabbed her forehead in her head, cradling it. Yes. He did love her. She was sure of it now. It all made sense. Tears slipped from her eyes as she silently cried. Whether her tears were due to happiness, sadness, confusion, or all three mixed together, she didn't know.

* * *

Byakuya was passing by his sister's room on the way back from the bathroom when he heard noise coming form inside. Hiding his spiritual pressure and pressing his ear up to the door, he listened hard to hear her words. "Renji...important...talk...tomorrow." Byakuya's eyes widened. He continued to listen. "Training area...thirteenth division...noon...bye." By this time the nobleman was pressing his ear so hard up against the door he thought it might give out. Walking away swiftly, he felt excitement grow in him. This was what he had been waiting for! And he hadn't thought it would happen this fast, especially since Ukitake had told him of yesterday's failure. Smiling slightly, Byakuya returned to his quarters to rest. Tomorrow would be exciting.

* * *

Renji sighed, laying back down on his futon. Rukia had sounded terrible on the phone. She had sounded sad and confused and a number of other emotions, and he was majorly concerned. He was also curious about what Rukia wanted to talk to him about, but she had hung up before he could ask, showing him how much more distressed she was.

He also wondered if it was about yesterday, about what she was going to say to him before Isane burst in. That glimmer of hope in his heart appeared again, and he seriously considered the possibility that she could be in love with him, as he was with her. Either way, he was going to have to comfort Rukia as best he could tomorrow.

* * *

Rukia shuffled her feet slowly towards her captain's office. She had to confront him about this. Even though she didn't know if he had started this or not, she did know that he was at least apart of it. Stopping in front of his door before she even knew she was there, she knocked.

"Come in," came the voice from inside, undeniably that of her captains'. Rukia slowly slid the door open, stepping inside the room. As usual, Ukitake was buried in paperwork, and his pen was writing away at the paper. He looked up to verify the identity of his guest.

"Oh! Rukia, it's you. Come sit." he said, smiling. It appeared his thoughts of paperwork had migrated to the back of his mind. Rukia sluggishly walked over, not even feeling herself move as she took a seat in front of her sickly captain, eyes downcast and posture slouched. Ukitake could see immediately that she was depressed.

"Rukia?" he asked. "What troubles you?" His face turned from happy to concerned in an instant.

"Ukitake-taicho..." she said, keeping her eyes in her lap. "With all do respect, sir...please stop." Ukitake frowned.

"What do you mean, Rukia?" he asked.

"I know what you're doing...with me and Renji...but, please, I'm asking you to stop!" she said, bowing her head.

Ukitake's face turned shocked. She knew. But then why...? "Rukia...you seem upset...I am sorry for causing you this pain, and I promise to stop, but...would you tell me something first?"

"Hai." Rukia could tell what he was going to ask; it was obvious.

"Do you love him?"

Rukia's hands tightened their grip on the edges of the chair she was sitting on and she could feel tears starting to brim in her violet eyes. "Yes...I do."

"Then why, Rukia?" he asked. "Surely you must know by now...you must know that he returns those feelings. So why?" Ukitake was trying to reason with his subordinate, but it didn't seem to be working, and he could tell that she was fighting off tears.

"Because..." she began, "I don't want him to suffer. I know that if we form a relationship he will be harassed day in and day out by the Kuchiki's. He deserves better than that." Rukia was pouring her heart out in front of her captain, all of it.

"But, Rukia, don't you think that that's his decision to make?" asked her captain. He was trying as hard as he could to stop her from doing what he thought she was going to do.

"Captain..." Rukia raised her head to look at him, tears to the brink and on the verge of spilling over. "It may not be my decision, but you've heard my reasons, so please...just please respect what I'm asking you. I'm begging you, please." She was pleading with him to understand her reasons.

Ukitake rested his chin on his interlocked fingers and stared at the papers on his desk. "Rukia...although I may not agree with what you've decided, I will respect your wishes. You are dismissed."

Rukia bowed her head again. "Arigato," she whispered, standing solemnly and walkng out the door, shutting it on the way out. As soon as the door shut, she allowed the dam to break, and tears came running down her pale cheeks, bucket after bucket of them.

* * *

"Ukitake," said Byakuya cooly, coming into his office. "I believe the plan has worked. Last night I overheard Rukia-"

"-No, it will not work, Kuchiki-taicho," said Ukitake with a grim look on his face. "Rukia came into my office a little awhile ago. She knows that I had a part in the plan, but she doesn't appear to know that it was originally your doing. And don't worry; I did not divulge your association. However, Rukia did ask me to stop taking part in the plan. I agreed to this, and I think that it is time to stop. It is causing her a lot of pain."

"Why so is it causing her pain?" asked the noble. On the outside he kept his emotionless demeanor, but on the inside he was distressed.

"She admitted to me that she was in love with him; she said it plain out," explained Ukitake. "She even told me that she knew he was in love eith her as well. But then she told me that if they were together then he would be harassed by the Kuchiki clan. She was on the brink of crying and looked me in the eye, saying that he didn't deserve that kind of treatment."

Byakuya understood. He had had a similar fear with Hisana, but despite that he had gone on with it and despite the harassment the two of them had been happy. _Rukia... _Suddenly it hit him. She had said they needed to talk. Oh god. Byakuya flash-stepped out of the room immediately, trying to pick up the spiritual pressure of either shinigami. Ukitake simply stood still in his office, wondering why the noble had left so abruptly.

* * *

Rukia stood, staring at the back of the redheaded man who held her affections. He was sitting on a rock, waiting for her. Rukia had it planned out. The thought made her want to throw up, but she was going to have to go up to him and outright say that she didn't love him. She wanted to huddle up and cry just thinking about doing this. But she couldn't let him suffer. She knew that his heart would also break like hers, but she figured it was better for him than going through years of endless suffering with her noble family.

Legs like jelly, she walked up to him, looking up at his face.

"Hey, Rukia," he said. "What'd ya wanna talk about?"

Rukia continued looking up at him, face still melancholy. "Renji..."

END OF CHAPTER 3

Ooh, cliffhanger. Yes, I know, I'm evil. So, will Rukia be able to go through with it? Will Byakuya make it in time and stop Rukia from making what we all know is a huge mistake? I know I sound dumb right now, but I'm trying to build suspense...I think. I also realize that I've made the story take a very serious turn, and I've had to wright the horrible thing we know to be angst, I hope no one minds. Anyways, Bleach is NOT mine, sadly. It belongs to the great and all powerful Tite Kubo.


	4. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 4

Chapter 4, what will happen? The major question: Will Rukia go through with her plan? You'll have to read and find out.

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 4

"Renji..." she looked up at him, sadness reflecting in her eyes, and could tell that he knew something was wrong.

"What's the matter, Rukia?" he asked softly, pulling her up gently to sit with him on the rock. She felt a surge of warmth go through her at the feel of his large hands encircling her waist, then felt extremely cold when he removed them.

"Renji..." she repeated, not finding the power to look at him, knowing that if she lost herself in his warm eyes she wouldn't be able to accomplish her task, and hating herself for what she was planning on doing. Tightening her already balled up fists, she willed herself to continue.

"Recently, I've...noticed something..." she said, keeping her eyes glued to her hands in her lap. Renji's face was one of confusion, but it still showed his deep concern for her.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Her fists tightened more, so much he was afraid she would draw blood from her palms. Her shoulders began shaking, and he could tell she was about to cry.

"Renji...I know that you-" before she was finished with her sentence, Renji turned her to face him, and hugged her against his chest tightly. She found herself speechless, feeling even as if she was unable to breath.

"Rukia..." he said. "Don't cry...please don't cry...whatever it is, I'll help you out however I can...you shouldn't have to cry..." he meant the last part, of course, as a means to say that she didn't deserve to have things happen to her that would cause her to cry. He hated it when she cried. Because, if you were a hardened orphan from the Rukon, you only ever cried if you were in extreme pain, emotionally or physically, and he hated to see her in pain. It made him feel like his innards were being twisted up inside him and his skin was being clawed away.

Rukia could feel the inevitable tears brimming in her violet eyes, but fought them back with all her might. Gathering up all her willpower, she reluctantly braced her small hands on his chest, pushing him away from her. Her head was ducked so he couldn't see her face, about to cry, but she could tell that the expression on his face was pained, and that she had just broken a little bit of his heart. Dropping her hands to her sides, she said grimly,

"Renji...I don't-" The spiritual pressure of Rukia's brother suddenly invaded her senses, interrupting her train of speech and thought. And just as fast as she had sensed him, he was there, standing before the both of them and panting slightly. It was obvious that he had flash-stepped here with great haste, and it was in the same moment that Rukia said, "Nii-sama!" and Renji said, "Taicho!"

The noble raised his head. There was no sadness or heartbreak in the eyes of either, just surprise at the fact that he himself had arrived so suddenly. _Good_, he thought, internally breathing a deep sigh of pure relief. He wasn't too late.

It was Rukia who was able to speak first. "N-Nii-sama...what's wrong?" She looked at him, concerned, as he stood there, all thoughts of what had been going on just seconds earlier banished from her mind. Byakuya quickly thought of something, something that would give the two another chance and allow him an alibi. Standing up straight, he answered her.

"Rukia, it has been discovered that..." he paused, somewhat for affect, and both Rukia and Renji seemed to lean closer in anticipation. "It has been discovered that there is an assassin after you."

Renji's face was that of horror and shock, and Rukia could only stare at her brother, wide-eyed, as she processed his statement.

"N-nii-sama..." she whispered. "H-How? There hasn't...there haven't been any attempts on my life!" Her voice suddenly intensified, seeping with disbelief, and if her mind had been in a better state she wouldn't have had such an outburst before her brother, but now her neurons were so scattered that she couldn't think straight.

"I'm sorry, Rukia, if it were my choice fate would not be burdening you so, however...it can not be helped..." Byakuya still kept his coldness, but made sure to show a slight hint of distress in his eyes so he was believable, and only now did he realize that maybe he had gone a bit too far with it. A sudden surge of guilt washed over him as he watched his sister staring at the ground, hopelessness and vulnerability overcoming her small form.

"Taicho," Renji spoke up suddenly. The nobles' eyes snapped up to his lieutenant, just now remembering that he was present. Byakuya was taken aback by the man's expression.

Renji eyes were stone cold, flooded with a determination and will that Byakuya had only seen twice; when Renji had stood before him claiming that he would save Rukia from execution no matter what, and when he had stood before Aizen, refusing to give Rukia up under threat of death.

"Taicho...do you know who is trying to do it?" he asked, gaze never once wavering, eyes looking straight into those of his stoic captain.

"No, the perpetrators are not known at this time, however-" he was cut off as Renji dropped to one knee, bowing his head. When he was certain Byakuya's was waiting for him to speak, he did.

"Sir," he began. "Please allow me to help protect Rukia. I will do everything I can for her well-being, even sacrifice my life if it means her safety." At this Rukia started.

"Renji..." she couldn't bring herself to say anything else as she stared at his kneeling form. This was all happening so fast, so suddenly...her brain couldn't comprehend it and it was overloading her mind.

"That is very good, Renji," spoke Byakuya. "Because I do need to make a request of you." Rukia's eyes traveled back up to her brother. What did he want?

"Sir?" asked Renji, still in a kneeling position and waiting to be given his task. This was where the other part of Byakuya's plan was put into action.

"I need you to allow Rukia to stay at your home for the time being," said the noble, his face reflecting complete seriousness. "Though there are guards there, it is a vast manor and an intruder could sneak in at any of the various points. The only way to keep her safe there would be to have her constantly surrounded by guards day in and day out, which I know would make her uncomfortable and even more stressed. I do not wish for that. However I trust you just as much as any of the guards, if not more, and you have proven time and again that you are highly devoted to Rukia, so this is my request: allow her to live at your place of residence at this time. Sleep in the same room with her, if possible. Escort her to and from work, and accompany her to places. Basically, be her personal bodyguard. I am guessing that as a close childhood friend Rukia will not be bothered or stressed by your constant presence. That is all." Renji's eyes widened in surprise, as did Rukia's, however both shinigami managed to keep they're composure.

"O...Of course, sir..." he answered. He added quickly, "That is, if Rukia doesn't mind..." Byakuya and Renji looked over at Rukia, who nodded a small nod.

"I wouldn't have anyone else do it..." said Rukia in a small voice, which made Renji's heart flutter. He knew she would never go along with any sort of constant protection unless she was seriously concerned, which she obviously was.

"Very well, then," said Byakuya. He turned to Rukia. "We will make sure that the person aiming for your life is captured swiftly," he said simply, then disappeared in a swift flash step just as quickly as he had come.

After a few minutes of staring at the spot where his captain had stood, Renji turned to look at Rukia. She was obviously very alarmed with all of this.

"Rukia..." he said, walking over to her. She was off of the rock now, leaning against it with her knees pulled up to her chest. He knelt in front of her, examining her downcast expression.

"You know it's gonna be okay, right?" he asked, gently placing a hand on her small shoulder. "We'll work together to make sure you don't get hurt. You just keep your guard up and I'll cover you." He smiled warmly, trying to cheer her up. He knew that she hated feeling vulnerable and hated feeling like a burden. But he didn't want her to feel like that. She wasn't any of those things to him; she was a wonderful woman who he would do anything in the world for, even die, and he wanted her to feel less like she was depending on him and more like this was a team effort, which he was going to make sure it was going to be.

Obviously Rukia understood this, for she looked up at him, happiness reflecting in her eyes and accompanied by a smile. Quickly, so quickly he barely noticed it, she flung her arms around his neck, tightly hugging him.

"Yeah," she agreed. "You'd better not stand in my way if that bastard attacks me and I wanna go beat the shit out of him. Promise?" Her voice was a joking tone, and he could tell that she was back to normal now.

"Promise," he said softly, gently hugging her back.

* * *

Byakuya feared he had made a terrible mistake. True, Rukia and Renji would be spending a lot more time together, but at the time the noble had neglected to factor in what could become of how the public reacted if this slipped out. Byakuya thought for a moment. Renji would never tell anyone, never, he was smart enough and had been a lieutenant for long enough to know that information like this was strictly confidential. Rukia, though...she wouldn't tell anyone except for her captain, however she probably thought that he was informed on the matter already and would speak freely to him about it.

The captain of the sixth division decided. He would have to let Ukitake in on it, but then swear the man to secrecy.

* * *

"Well, her it is," said Renji, plopping down on the couch. "My barracks. It isn't much, I know...hope you're okay with it." he was still worried about the small girl. Even though he had cleared up her feelings of being a dependent sponge, he couldn't exactly do anything about the fear he knew she still had.

""Please, Renji," she scoffed. "When have you known me to care about crap like whether your apartment is shitty or not?" She was back to her old self, mostly, but there was still a bit of fear in her heart about this whole assassin situation. Even though she knew Renji would help protect her with everything he had, she still didn't know what this person was capable of...not to mention the fact that Renji could be injured...that was what scared her the most.

But she cast these thoughts away as she examined his place, feeling a sudden wave of sleepiness overcome her, which didn't escape Renji's notice.

"Ya look tired, wanna go to bed?" he asked. She nodded sleepily, and he pointed upstairs. "You can go sleep upstairs, I'll hang down here." Rukia didn't move, just stood there and stared at him, as if trying to decide whether to ask him something or not. He gave her a quizzical look.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Bedroom's up there. Aren't you tired?" Rukia blushed, biting her lip.

"Well...nii-sama said we should sleep in the same room..." she said nervously, scratching the back of her head. She could feel more blood rushing up towards her cheeks by the second.

Renji's blush matched her own. "Well...if you want me to, I guess...I mean, if it would make ya feel safer..." at this point the two were avoiding each others' eyes nervously.

"Ha," she answered abruptly, quickly strutting up the stairs to his bedroom. He followed seconds later, stopping in front of the open door to see her back facing him as she was taking the black top of her uniform off. For just a flicker of a second Renji became excited, but he then quickly reminded himself that she wasn't stripping, just taking the top layer of her uniform off. _That's right Renji, calm down... _he thought. Over and over again he thought the words, _She is not stripping, I am not getting laid, she is not stripping, I am not getting laid, she is not stripping, I am not getting laid..., _and trying to get the thoughts of naked Rukia out of his mind so that he wouldn't do something he would regret, like kiss her...or...Renji held back a blush as he thought of far more inappropriate things he would love to do if she went along with it.

His train of repetitive thought was broken, however, when she turned to face him in her now completely white attire saying, "Well isn't someone zoning out all of a sudden?" An evil smirk followed. Renji's face acquired a small blush as he told her to shut it and took the top part of his own uniform off, walking over to the closet to retrieve an extra futon.

"You can sleep in my bed and I'll hang in the corner on this extra futon," he told her as he turned to face her once more.

"Uh-huh, sure..." Rukia replied absentmindedly, just now noticing that the hem of the white kosode of his uniform hung pretty low, revealing the greater part of his well-sculpted chest. She just couldn't help but stare at his muscles and the tattoos standing out against his tanned skin...

Suddenly, Rukia tore her gaze away, reminding herself that she couldn't start something with him, no matter how much she longed for it and he knew he longed for it. If she was living with him for the time being, she couldn't outright reject him...it would be much too hard to be around him as much as she would have to be. But she could still hold back her feelings, she thought, as she sat down on his futon, immediately noting that it smelled like him, his wonderful, manly scent.

Renji finished setting up the other futon in the corner and switched off the lights, lying down to take a well-deserved rest without even bothering to take his hair down. It had been way too long a day to bother with trivial things like that. Lying down and pulling the covers up around her, Rukia also tried to relax, both shinigami trying to ignore the urges that they had to engage in some...adult activities.

END OF CHAPTER 4

Yay, no more major angst! *Jumps for joy* I'm so glad I was able to get it cleared up in this chapter, because I just hate angst SO MUCH! In a multi-chapter story, however, it is essential to have it from time to time so that you can have a well-balanced story that's actually interesting. I'm sure all you fellow writers can relate to this. And yes, I know, things got a little more...saucy in this chapter, but don't worry, the rating won't change, at most there will be neck kissing and mentions of sexual activity. That I can promise. Well, anyways, Tite Kubo is the owner of Bleach, not I, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I would love to hear what you think!


	5. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 5

Well, I had a little bit of an idea dilemma on this(better known as writers block), but her it is, chapter, um...5 I think.

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 5

"You did WHAT!" exclaimed Ukitake, surprising the stoic noble before him. He had never, not once in his existence, seen the white-haired captain yell.

"Ukitake, I do realize at his point that the information I gave them was drastic and not properly thought out, however it is too late to salvage the present situation. The only way to fix it would be for me to compromise my position, which I refuse to do, at least at this time. So for now all we are able to do is cope with it. So, please, help me ensure that this does not spread." Byakuya held his usual composure, hoping that he hadn't pissed the sickly captain off too bad. Ukitake sighed.

"Very well, Kuchiki-taicho..." he agreed. "I will aid in keeping this matter confidential, but you do realize that I can not keep helping in your plans any longer after this, for I swore to Rukia that I would not." He was serious about that. Good idea or not, he had made a promise to one of his dearest subordinates. And Jushiro Ukitake was not a man that broke promises.

"Of course, Ukitake," replied Byakuya. However important the matter, Byakuya would never ask someone to give up one of their deepest values. Suddenly, a girl came in carrying a tea tray.

"Ah, the tea is here!" said Ukitake cheerfully as the girl brought the tea to his desk and set it down gently. He made sure to show no after emotion from the conversation he and Byakuya had just had.

"Arigato," he said to her, grinning ear to ear. The girl blushed and scurried out of the room without a word. Ukitake motioned to his fellow captain.

"Care for a cup, Kuchiki-taicho?" he asked. The noble kept his emotionless face, but let a but of happiness shine through his eyes.

"Yes, that would be most pleasant," he answered, taking a seat before his colleague. And so, the two captains sat there, drinking tea.

* * *

Renji awoke to the sight of Rukia tying her obi and about to walk out the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked, his sleepy voice sounding of curiosity instead of anger from her going somewhere without him like she would've thought. She smiled at the fact that he didn't seem like he wanted to keep her on a tight leash.

"Just for a walk," she answered plainly, stopping so she could talk to him. "You wanna come?" Renji was a little confused at her statement; he expected that she would be at least slightly rebelling against this have-Renji-around-all-the-time-day-and-night plan for her safety, but based on her insisting that he sleep in the room with her last night and her attitude this morning it seemed as though she was embracing it. A little part of him even started to think that she liked having him around her all the time.

"Sure," he answered, standing up to quickly put the black part of his uniform on. When he finished, tying the obi securely at his waist, the two walked out of the room together and then out the front door to the slightly foggy morning weather. Renji was slightly surprised; it seemed like it was 6:00 A.M. form the limited light and the fogginess.

"Yo, Rukia?" he asked, looking down at her, reminding himself again how much smaller than he she was.

"Yeah?" she replied, keeping her eyes straight ahead. She figured why bother looking up at him, she didn't need to be reminded how small she was compared to him.

"What time is it?"

"Oh, about 6:15, I think," she answered, not really understanding why he had asked the question. Renji's eyes widened. He was right then. The red haired man marveled at how he could've woken up at such an early hour. Usually he slept in until his alarm clock went off for him to go to his duties or until a low-ranked squad member was sent to his barracks to wake him the hell up.

"Yo, Renji," said Rukia, out of the blue.

"Yeah?"

"I hope...I hope I'm not being a burden or anything," her voice didn't hold as much pain as yesterday, but he could tell that there was still a little bit of guilt nipping the small girl in the back of the head about this. Renji let out a sigh, then smiled.

"Oh, Rukia," he said draping an arm around her small shoulders. "We've been over this already, haven't we? You need to let others help you out sometimes, you know? If you try to do it all yourself you'll just crumble under all the weight of everything. Now I'm not saying you should completely depend on others; I know you're way stronger than that." This made Rukia smile. She loved the fact that Renji respected her strength instead of being super overprotective, allowing her to give it all she could before he would even think about stepping in. He continued, "But you've got to let others help you shoulder the burden sometimes, especially now. There are tons of people who love you and want to help you out, but you've just got to let them first." Rukia felt her heart skip a beat at the word "love". She was in a way better mood now, and it was all thanks to Renji. And even though it was a sappy, cliché thing to think, Rukia had to admit to herself that Renji was, in all ways, her rock. Lover or not, he was. Especially right now. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him.

"Arigato, Renji," she said. She knew she didn't have to say it, and she knew that he would just tell her that she wasn't supposed to thank him, but she didn't care; she wanted to say it anyway. Right now, it was the closest thing she could say to, "I love you," which she desperately wanted to say, but knew she couldn't, and so she sufficed with this.

The two stayed in that position, comfortably walking down the dirt path. It was so peaceful; due to the earliness, there were no sounds of people, or even animals. It was just silent, calm and silent.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Rukia felt warm blood seep from a cut wound down her pale cheek. The two of them jumped apart, both dazed at what had just happened but immediately drawing their zanpakutos nonetheless.

"Renji, what the hell just happened!" she exclaimed, putting her guard up fully as she scanned the area for the perpetrator. Her nerves were tense and she could feel sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

Renji, who was in much the same state, answered, "I don't know..." the two were back to back now, looking frantically around for any sign of what had just caused the light and Rukia's cut.

Then there was a voice. A cold, creepy, eerie voice. It was deep and murderous and sounded like death. Not to mention it made both Renji and Rukia's skin crawl in disgust.

"Dammit, missed by a hair," it said. The voice sounded as if it were coming from everywhere around the two, surrounding them with it's intent.

"What the hell...who the hell are you!" barked Rukia, beating Renji to the punch. Neither shinigami could tell where the voice was coming from, and were fully prepared to strike if suddenly assaulted. The voice laughed.

"Silly shinigami, trying to find me...don't you know that it's hopeless? I am everywhere, and I am everything. You're efforts are futile and will only result in death." At this point the two were enraged, wanting to beat the shit out of this jackass more than anything.

There were two more flashes of light; one to the right of Renji, and one to the right of Rukia. Both turned, using their unreleased zanpakutos to deflect the weapons, and two daggers fell to the ground before disintegrating into dust. The voice laughed again.

"Impressive. As I expected, good reflexes." The voice continued its torture, playing with then like they were experimental guinea pigs.

"Renji," said Rukia silently.

"Yeah?"

"Let's kick this guy's ass." Renji nodded, grunting in agreement, as the two released their zanpakutos.

"Dance! Sode No Shirayuki!"

"Howl! Zabimaru!" Renji didn't want to release his bankai because the area around them was so small and he might lose track of, or even worse, hurt, Rukia. So he just stuck with shikai for now.

"Ooh, even more impressive released forms," said the voice. "I'm going to have some fun with the two of you." Renji and Rukia were getting more pissed by the moment, getting even stronger urges to want to beat the living shit out of this bastard who was treating them like lab rats.

"Well, I guess it's time to stop playing," said the voice. "I think I'll get this over with now." Suddenly, flashes of light came from all sides of them. Rukia flailed around frantically, trying to block all of the oncoming daggers, surprised when nothing hit her or her zanpakuto. All the movement had caused her vision to blur, and when she stopped herself and her eyes focused once more, she realized that a thick mist had enveloped the two of them. Looking in all directions, Rukia tried to find Renji, but to no avail.

"Renji!" she called, now panicking. Her eyes frantically searched around for him, seeking his presence as she tried to also feel for his spiritual pressure, which had also suddenly vanished.

"Silly shinigami," laughed the voice evilly. Rukia was enraged.

"Shut the fuck up, you cocksucking...!" Rukia trailed off as sleepiness overcame her being, and it was then she realized that the mist was not a smokescreen, but a sleeping gas. The small girl put the sleeve of her shihakusho up to her nose and mouth to avoid breathing more in, but it was too late. The gas was already in her system, drowning her with a feeling of drowsiness.

"God...dammit..." she muttered, falling to her knees. The rest of her body followed, hitting the ground with a loud 'thud'. "You...fucking...bastard..." were the last words she was able to squeeze out before the darkness enveloped her. The last sound she heard was the bloodcurdling laughter of the evil being who had attacked them.

* * *

There were loud footsteps coming from down the hallway right before the door of Ukitake's office was slammed open violently. A panting officer was standing there, struggling to gain enough breath so he could speak.

Ukitake stood up out of his chair. "What is it!" This was obviously an extremely urgent matter or it would've been sent out by hell butterfly.

"Rukia Kuchiki...*pant*...has been attacked!" Both Ukitake and Byakuya's eyes widened in astonishment.

"What!" demanded Byakuya, surprising his fellow captain as he also stood up swiftly.

"She has been attacked," the messenger repeated. "She is unconscious in the fourth division at the moment, but form her mumblings we have gathered that Abarai Renji was also present and disappeared in midst of the attack!" Both captains flash stepped out of the room immediately, forgetting the squad member completely.

"Kuchki!" demanded Ukitake angrily. "This had better not be your doing!" The usually cheerful captain was now, to put it bluntly, majorly pissed off.

"Never!" countered Byakuya. "I may have been irrational in my thinking while in the moment but I would never be so reckless as to arrange something like this!" Byakuya was now letting all of his emotions out, allowing his cold facade to drop completely.

The two captains, still flash stepping, exchanged glances. The situation was critical now; there was a _real _assassin in the sereitei.

* * *

Rukia's eyes opened drearily. As her vision focused, she noticed that she was in a bed in the fourth division. Her mind gradually unwound itself from the web of dreams and drunkenness brought upon by sleep. As soon as she was even just half conscious, memories of the earlier events came flooding back, consuming her. She sat straight up in the bed, letting out a scream as her her face was dominated by terror.

"RENJI!"

END OF CHAPTER 5

CLIFFHANGER! What will happen? Is Renji okay? I'm not going to tell you, because I'm evil. Lastly, I don't own Bleach, it is owned by Tite Kubo, and hope you enjoyed! Opinions are greatly welcomed!


	6. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 6

Chapter 6, yeah! Now we find out what happened to Renji, and Rukia's reaction. Enjoy.

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 6

"RENJI!"

Rukia's scream was so loud it could wake the dead. She was terrified, so terrified for Renji as she remembered that his spiritual pressure had completely vanished seconds before she had passed out. The small girl heard footsteps echoing down the hallway before the door was opened up by Hanatarou.

"Hanatarou!" said Rukia before the medic could get a word in. "Where's Renji! He's here, isn't he!" Her heart was beating a million miles a minute and she was trembling terribly. Hanatarou opened his mouth to answer her, but before he could Byakuya walked past him, ushering him out of the room and cutting him off completely. Rukia's eyes widened.

"Nii-sama!" Being too preoccupied with trying to comprehend what happened to Renji, Rukia hadn't sensed her brother's spiritual pressure near. Before she could say anything more, he spoke.

"Rukia...I'm afraid that Renji is missing," he said, keeping his usual composure of coldness. For Rukia, time seemed to stop. Her fingers clutched the sheets covering the lower half of her body and she felt her whole world crumble for a moment. She couldn't feel anything; not her hands, not her body, nothing. It was as if she was thrown into a haze of fear and doubt and confusion with just that one sentence.

"Wh...what?" she said. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else at the moment. Several thoughts ran through her mind, so many that she could feel her brain overloading. Where was he! Were they looking for him! Was he alright! They just flashing through her mind over and over and she couldn't take it.

Byakuya saw his sister's state, and couldn't bear to watch her go on like this. "Rukia..." he said. Rukia somehow brought her eyes up to meet his, surprised to see that they had softened a bit. "Do not panic yourself. He is simply missing, not dead. A search party is planned to be sent out in a few days and-"

"-A few days!" interrupted Rukia. If she weren't in such and emotionally fragile state, the raven haired woman knew that she wouldn't have been so panicky, and that she certainly wouldn't have interrupted her honorable older brother in such a crude manner, but right now she just couldn't help it.

"He could be dead by then!" she continued. "This person that attacked us...we don't know what he's capable of, and I felt Renji's spiritual pressure disappear right before I passed out!" That was the main thing. She knew that Renji was perfectly able to take care of himself, and always had hope in him. She definitely wouldn't have been so worried if she hadn't felt his reiatsu go out like a light like it did, but she had felt it, and it scared her. The small woman began to get up out of the bed when her brother stopped her.

"Rukia," he said. She stopped, one foot about to touch the ground and looked up at him. He was slightly surprised to see that her eyes had changed from that of panic and fear, to that of determination and resolve. At that second he knew what he had to let her do.

"Please, get back in bed and rest," he said, sending a silent message with his eyes to let her know that he was allowing her to go after Renji.

"But nii-sama!" interjected the small girl. "Renji-!"

"Rukia, if you refuse to comply and rest yourself, then I'm afraid that I will have to confiscate your zanpakuto." He sent the message more insistently now, adding in hints in his words to relay his message. Rukia's eyes widened in understanding as she slowly re-situated herself under the covers.

"H-Hai, nii-sama," she answered him, just now realizing that her zanpakuto was leaning against a nearby room of the wall.

"Very good," said Byakuya. "I will visit soon, tonight if possible." Rukia immediately understood. Go tonight. That was what he meant. She nodded, eyes filled with seriousness and understanding. With that he departed, leaving her. Rukia slowly constructed a plan as she sat there, in the medical room of the fourth division.

* * *

"Unohana," spoke Byakuya, strutting into the woman's office suddenly. She looked up at him, seeming not at all surprised by his sudden intrusion.

"Yes, Kuchiki-taicho?" she asked, smiling. Byakuya felt a shiver go down his spine as she spoke. Even to him, the great noble Byakuya Kuchiki, she was a very frightening woman.

"I am seeking your assistance."

* * *

Rukia slid the black top of her shinigami uniform on as she prepared to depart to go look for Renji. She didn't have any leads; hell, she didn't even know who her attacker had been, but she had to find Renji. She just had to. Grabbing her zanpakuto from the wall, she slid it through her obi, taking a deep breath. Now was the time.

Rukia slid the shoji door open as fast as humanly possible, unsheathing her Sode No Shirayuki in the same moment as she prepared to strike down the guards that watched over the halls during the night. To her great surprise, there were none. The petite shinigami's eyebrows arched in confusion and slight surprise as she examined the other hall passages, keeping constant guard with her zanpakuto in striking position.

Soon Rukia gave up trying to find the guards. Sure, it didn't make any sense whatsoever, but it was one less thing to deal with, one less inconvenience. She smiled, considering herself lucky as she sheathed her zanpakuto. _Well, I won't have to waste any energy on that, _she thought as she tiptoed silently towards the entrance. Luckily, the hard wooden floors of the fourth had been cleaned and waxed recently, meaning that she could sneak across them with ease and minimal sound.

Reaching the main entrance, the small girl slipped out with ease, continuing her sneaky, lithe movement until she was a safe distance away, after which she broke out into a full blown run into the night. Her shoes rested, unused, inside her shihakusho; she had taken them off to reduce the sound, and now disregarded them completely as her mind quickly centered on one goal: find Renji.

* * *

Captain Unohana watched as Rukia ran away from her division offices to search for the lieutenant of the sixth. The female captain smiled, remembering what Byakuya had requested of her earlier. He had asked her to withdraw all the night guards for the night from her division, to which she had happily complied. She herself had noticed a spark between the two; specifically when Rukia had been injured and required medical care. Renji would visit often, once a day at the _least_, to check on her. And there it would be, right in his eyes as he would watch her sleeping on the beds; the love. And even though Rukia didn't show her emotions as blatantly, she had still seen a spark of concern flash in the girls eyes when the red haired lieutenant was injured.

Unohana sat back in her chair, chuckling to herself. She truly did hope it all worked out for the two.

* * *

The blood in Rukia's ears began to pump in time with the rhythm of her frantic feet as she sprinted down the pathways of soul society. She was almost to the gate, just a little more and she would be out of the court of pure souls. Her heart was beating erratically, trying to keep up with her movements as it pumped blood all throughout her small body. Her breaths were coming in heaving pants and her muscles ached, begging for her to stop and give them a sufficient rest, but she continued on despite these pleas. Her mental resolve was outshining her physical one much too strongly, especially now when she could practically taste freedom. Once she was out of the court of pure souls, she would be much harder to sense, let alone find and capture.

The petite girl made a turn, and she saw it; the gate. Her resolve strengthened all the more, and she somehow quickened the pace of her feet when:

"Well, if it isn't miss Kuchiki. Out for a midnight stroll, are we?" Rukia froze, body jolting forward slightly as she abruptly stopped. Time also seemed to stop as a million thoughts ran through her head about how she was busted, how they would punish her, and how she wouldn't be able to go after Renji now. It seemed like a long time before she willed herself to look up at the person who had caught her red-handed.

Rukia's eyes widened in shock as she saw that this person was none other than the captain of the eighth: Kyouraku Shunusui.

"K...Kyouraku- taicho..." she whispered. The man chuckled at her surprised reaction, jumping off the roof he stood atop only to land in front of her. He was smiling widely, as if amused by the face she was making.

"So, Kuchiki," he said. "Why are you out so late?" In truth, the man knew why; Ukitake, of course, had informed him of the situation. But he felt like teasing her a bit for his own enjoyment.

"I...I..." Rukia was stuck on that word, couldn't bring herself to say anything but it. She tried desperately to use her acting skills to think of something, a story, an alibi, but there were just so many thoughts in her head, so many things overwhelming her at that moment that she couldn't think straight.

"Oh," said Shunsui, smiling wickedly. "I know why. You're heading over to the sixth division barracks to see Abarai-kun and have a little bit of fun with him while big brother's asleep, right? You vixen, you." Rukia's face immediately flushed bright red all over, her aura turning from one of shock and anxiety to one of pure embarrassment.

"N-NO!" she practically shouted, the red on her cheeks intensifying. "How could you even suggest that!"

"Oh?" he asked. "Then why are you blushing so hard?...Oh, I get it, you two are meeting in some romantic spot under the stars to kiss the night away and share an evening of passionate lovemaking, all the while knowing that you may be split apart because your love is a forbidden one and..." at this point the perverted captain was in full poet mode, spinning a tale of romance and drama. And all the while Rukia's whole face continued to redden, and redden, and redden until she was positive that every drop of blood she had had just flowed up to her face.

"Urusai!" she interjected. "Besides, that's impossible! You must know that Renji is missing! That's why I'm-" the petite shinigami slapped a hand to her mouth in realization that she had just spilled her secret. Shit. Shunsui chuckled.

"Yeah," he replied. "I know." Rukia was angry now.

"Th-Then why did you keep messing with me!" she inquired furiously. He smiled.

"It's so fun to tease the young," he said. Rukia was about to retort, but the normally-drunken man spoke again.

"You might not want to get too angry at me, though, because I did take care of all those pesky guards for you." Earlier he had knocked the guards in her path out, laying them down silently after. Rukia's face cooled down as she noticed for the first time that he was right, no guards _had _attacked her.

"A...Arigato," she said, looking up at him with a grateful expression which was touched with just a hint of apology for becoming so angry with him. He smirked, placing a hand on her head.

"Anytime," he said. He reached into his shihakusho, pulling out an object which he handed to her. She took it, seeing in the moonlight that it was a soul communicator. The small girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"Call me if you need anything," said Shunsui, releasing his hand from her head and walking off in the opposite direction towards his own barracks. He turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder to make one last comment.

"But I'll be perfectly fine if you don't call me because you and Abarai-kun want to fool around a little." Rukia blushed a little once again, but no anger could rise in her because she was just so grateful to him right now.

"Arigato," she repeated. He raised a hand behind him to signal both a "bye," and a "Your welcome," then continued on his way. Rukia turned to resume her pace as that thought returned to her once again and she felt the resolve rise within her. That was right. Captain Kyouraku had helped her to reach her goal, which gave her even more reason to achieve it. She had to find Renji. No matter what.

END OF CHAPTER 6

Yay, this chapter is finally done! I swear to god I couldn't stop laughing while I was writing the scene with Shunsui. Well, anyways, just like every other fanfic writer, I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo does. Opinions are always welcome and appreciated!


	7. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 7

Finally, a new chapter! I finally got enough over the writer's block to get a new chapter in, but sadly it's still lingering. T_T Well, anyways, hope you enjoy!(And for anyone who's wondering why Rukia's going alone, 1. you'll know why Ichigo and friends aren't going if you've read manga chapter 425+, and 2. She's breaking the law by going for Renji without official orders, and if she gets someone to go with her, then they might rat her out. So there.

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 7

"What!" demanded Yamamoto, pounding his fist down on the wooden desk with great force and shooting out of his seat. "You're saying you want the search called off!"

"That is precisely what I am requesting of you, Yamamoto-taicho," replied Byakuya, who was totally unfazed by the old man's sudden outburst. The noble had to see to it that no search parties came upon Renji and Rukia while they were alone. He didn't want his plans to be compromised yet again.

"But do you know how much effort was put into assembling that team of people!" explained Yamamoto. "If anything, why are you asking me this now, when they are all set out and ready to depart tomorrow!"

"Captain, the reason for my asking this of you so late is that my reason came up suddenly. I apologize for that. And any money that had to be expended for the search party will be paid back by the Kuchiki family, I swear it." Byakuya was being as polite as he could while still keeping his cool, calm composure. Yamamoto's jaw untightened, and the old geezer seemed to calm down as he sat back down in his chair. He sighed.

"Very well, Kuchiki-taicho." He paused. "But may I ask why you're requesting this? The missing man in question is your own lieutenant, after all." The air was heavy and solemn for a moment, the two men's spiritual pressure filling it to the brim.

"In all respect, my reasons are confidential, and though the man is my lieutenant I do have faith in him." He added, "Not only that, but I do plan on going to retrieve them myself." Yamamoto's eyebrow raised.

"Them?" Byakuya froze for a moment, like a thief caught red-handed, so much so that he almost lost his exterior stoicness. He soon composed himself though, thinking up an excuse on the spot.

"I apologize, that was simply a slip of the tongue, Yamamoto-taicho," explained Byakuya, hoping that the old man would buy it. Yamamoto seemed to think for a minute, before letting his eyebrow lower once more, though the noble could still sense a hint of suspicion in him.

"Very well, Kuchiki-taicho, I will cancel the search party and give you leeway to go out and look by yourself," said Yamamoto. His gaze sharpened. "But allow to make it clear that anything that takes place is not the fault of Soul Society." Byakuya nodded.

"Arigato, Yamamoto-taicho, I understand completely." With that, he left, scarf flowing behind him as he silently gloried in the fact that this part of his mission was done.

* * *

"Excuse me, ma'am," said Rukia, walking up to a woman who had a small child clinging to her robe.

"Have you seen a tall man, a shinigami like me, with bright red hair come through here recently?" She had gone pretty far within Rukongai already since last night and was currently in the 64th district. All day and last night she had been going around nonstop, asking people about it and trying to sense his spiritual pressure, and it was almost sundown right now.

The woman seemed surprised at first, probably because of the fact that a shinigami was all the way out here, but seemed to overlook it as she answered,

"I'm sorry, but I haven't-"

"-I seen him," interrupted the child. The boy's mother looked down at him, astonished.

"Don't tell such lies, Yoko," she scolded him.

"But I seen him!" protested the boy. "I seen him go through the air on a cloud of sparkly mist!" Rukia's eyes widened. The woman turned her head back to Rukia.

"I'm terribly sorry, Yoko has a tendency to lie and-"

"-But mama, I'm not lying!" he insisted. Rukia could tell that the child was telling the truth, and knelt in front of him.

"What was it you saw?" she asked him. He looked up at her smiling, obviously happy that _someone _believed him.

"Well," said the little boy. "Like I said, I saw him flying through the sky on a cloud of mist. He looked like he was passed out, and he had hair like fire."

"Did he have tattoos all over?" she further inquired him. "Was he a pretty large guy?" She was getting excited now; the small girl was sure that she almost had the answer to where Renji had been taken.

"Yep," continued the boy. "It was kind of hard to tell, but he had spiky black marks on his face, and he had real long legs." Yep, that was Renji alright.

"Do you remember which way he was going?" asked Rukia. The little boy put a finger to his chin, as if trying to remember.

"Well," he said. "I'm not quite sure I remember _that _part..." Rukia saw the little sparkle in the child's eyes, and could tell that he wanted something before he was going to cough up the information she needed. She wanted to chuckle at how humorous the situation was. This kid sure was a smart one.

"How about this," said Rukia. "If you can remember for me, then I'll make sure to get you some candy when I'm finished with my mission." The boy's eyes sparkled.

"Really, miss! You mean it!" he asked excitedly. Rukia nodded in response.

"Yep," confirmed Rukia. "But first, I need you to tell me which way my friend with the red hair went." The boy nodded, pointing.

"He went that way, miss," said the boy. "Can I have some candy now!" Rukia smiled at his enthusiasm.

"I'll get you some candy as soon as I'm finished with what I'm working on, I promise," assured Rukia. "Where do you live?" The boy pointed again, this time to a nearby wooden shack. Rukia nodded, ruffling his hair. She then thanked him and stood up, thanking his mother as well before running off. It would be dark soon, and she had to get to Renji as fast as possible.

* * *

"Dammit...what the hell?" muttered Renji, regaining consciousness. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. All he could make out was that he was laying on a cold, hard surface. He couldn't move, either. His limbs were limp and as much as he commanded them to move, they wouldn't. He could also feel a slight tickling on his face, telling him that his hair tie had been broken.

"Ah, I see that your awake, ," came a voice. Renji quickly recognized it as the voice that belonged to the person who had attacked Rukia and him. Anger boiled inside him, and he began to yell.

"You bastard!" he practically screamed. "Where's Rukia!" The voice chuckled at his anger.

"Oh, I assure you that she's not here," said the voice. "She's probably coming this way right now, though." This voice was seeping with evil and darkness, and it was just pissing Renji off all the more.

"What is your little game!" demanded Renji, trying again to break free of his invisible bonds, but failing. Another chuckle.

"Well, you are to find out in due time, my friend." It added, "And I see that you're trying to struggle. It is of no use, I promise, so you may as well stop wasting precious energy. I have bounded you with a special kind of hollow magic, and there is no way you could escape." Renji growled. Well, at least now he knew that this thing was a hollow. Then something it had said earlier flashed through his mind.

"Wait...what do you mean she's coming this way!" This time the voice broke out into full on laughter.

"I see you care about the girl quite a bit. I can guess why." Renji growled at the comment, wanting nothing more than to kick this bastard's ass into next week.

"What I mean," continued the voice, "Is that I have been sensing her spiritual pressure heading this way for quite some time. She may even be sensing yours as well at this point, and if you would concentrate you might actually notice that." Renji did as the voice said, and he sensed it. The all-so-familiar reiatsu of Rukia. And the voice was right, she was heading their way fast. _No!_ He thought alarmingly. _No, Rukia, stop! This thing might kill you!_ If Renji could've wished for one thing at that moment, it would've been the power of telepathy, because he wanted so much to tell Rukia to turn around.

He wanted to tell her turn around, and go away, and not risk her life for a stray dog like him. The large man felt his heart start to ache as the reality enveloped him; she was putting herself into what might be extreme danger for his sake alone. Renji felt like crying, he just felt like going and beating himself bloody because of this. His fists tightened. He felt as if he were in a never-ending nightmare.

* * *

"Alert, alert," called all the messengers throughout Soul Society.

"Rukia Kuchiki is missing! She was not found in the squad four barracks that she was placed in!" The whole place was in a panic, most officials were surprised and captain Yamamoto was about to call a captain's meeting. People were rushing around and everything was in a tizzy. First Abarai-fukutaicho is kidnapped, and then Kuchiki Rukia turns up missing! No one knew what was going on. That was, except, for a select few individuals.

* * *

Unohana smiled as sound of the alarm alerts echoed in her ears.

_So, she made it out, did she?_

_

* * *

_

"I believe Rukia ended up making it," commented Ukitake as he and Kyouraku played shoji in his office.

"I do believe you are right, my friend," agreed the perverted captain, making his next move. "I do believe your right."

* * *

Baykuya was flash-stepping away from Soul Society at an alarming rate, glad that he had gotten out before the alarms had been voiced. Captain Yamamoto was sure to be at least suspicious by now.

But soon he focused his attention on the task at hand: following Rukia. Even though he himself was going, this was still a real assassin, and there was no telling what said assassin could do to either his sister or his lieutenant. Slight fear arose within the noble as he considered the possibilities. He quickened his speed, desperate to catch up, making sure that he could still sense Rukia's spiritual pressure, and that his own was concealed. Plan or not, he decided that he would have to step in if things got life-threatening. Besides, there was no way Renji and Rukia could even be in a relationship if they weren't alive anymore.

* * *

The blood in Rukia's head pounded in time with her feet as she ran at the fastest pace she could towards the destination where she knew Renji was. As soon as she had caught wind if his reiatsu, she had begun going that way, and she could tell that she was close.

"Only a little more," she whispered, for it was hard to speak with her breaths coming in pants. "Just...a little..." she stopped, confused. Suddenly, Renji's spiritual pressure felt as if it was...under her. One of her dark eyebrow's raised in confusion. She couldn't see anything around her, it was just old, rotting trees. She took another another step forward.

WHOOSH! The ground fell out from underneath of Rukia and suddenly she felt herself falling. Everything had happened so fast that she was completely disoriented, and she couldn't even think. Then she felt herself hit hard ground. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth before everything went black.

END OF CHAPTER 7

OMG CLIFFHANGER! Is Rukia okay? You will have to read to find out. Sorry about the slight delay, but if you've read any of the other stuff I've posted a few days before now, you'll know that I'm suffering from some of the dreaded writer's block, although luckily after writing a chapter of this, I do have the next few chapters of this story planned out, so updates on this story for now shouldn't take too long, but if your reading the master plan you might have to wait a little bit because I've totally just hit a wall on that one. Also sorry of this chapter seems half-assed, but I just really wasn't in the zone for it and I don't personally don't think it's as good as the other chapters. Well ,whatever, Tite Kubo owns Bleach, not I, and opinions are always welcome and appreciated!


	8. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 8

Well, the real chap 8. For those of you who read the authors note, don't worry, the situation is over with, and I have been cleared of all suspicion, so I'm pretty happy! Hope you enjoy!

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 8

Byakuya was flash stepping towards his sister's location at full speed. Her spiritual pressure had been fine just a minute ago, but then...suddenly it had suffered a significant drop. He had no idea what might be happening, but he knew that he had to get to her as fast as possible so that he could prevent the worst-case scenario that he now feared.

He would have to get there before fatalities took place.

* * *

Rukia awoke, and the first thing she felt was her head throbbing painfully. Her whole body was sore, but it didn't look or feel like she had sustained any major injuries. The only place where she could tell that skin was broken was her lip, which had been split, and she could taste the blood that flowed into her mouth from it. Struggling a bit to sit up, the small girl opened her eyes, only to see that there was darkness all around. Suddenly, she sensed it. Renji's spiritual pressure.

"R...Renji!" she called. "Renji, where are you!" There was no answer, and Rukia began to fear the worst.

But suddenly, maniacal laughter came from what seemed to be like all around her. Rukia thrashed her head around, attempting to locate the source even though it was pitch black.

"Silly girl," said the voice. Rukia recognized it immediately.

"You," she practically hissed, jumping to her feet and unsheathing Sode No Shirayuki. "Where's Renji!" she demanded, keeping a determined look plastered to her face.

"Foolish shinigami," came the voice. Rukia was extremely frustrated, for just like the laughter, it was as if the voice was coming from everywhere, and she didn't know where she could strike to shut this bastard up.

"He is here with us, but I am afraid that you can not get to him." Rukia saw a source of light appear on her left, and her head snapped around in an instant to identify what it was. Her eyes widened as she saw it.

"R...Renji?" she whispered. He was laying 20 feet away from her, unconscious and sprawled out across the cold, stone ground. Locks of crimson from his undone ponytail covered most of his face and shoulders, and Rukia's first reaction was to run, as fast as she possibly could, towards his collapsed body. She couldn't believe it, it was amazing! Renji was alive, and right before her eyes! As soon as she got close, though, when she was only an arm's length away...he vanished. Rukia stopped dead in her tracks. Everything went black again.

"Oh...I'm sorry, did that upset you?" asked the voice. Rukia growled in anger.

"You son of a bitch, where the hell is Renji!" she screamed, demanding to know what this mysterious person or creature had done to him. Another laugh arose from all around, and Rukia wanted nothing more than to strangle the owner of it.

"He is alive, I promise you," assured the voice. It added, "Oh, how your anger will power me up." Rukia's eyebrow arched. "Wh...What?"

"You see, I am a hollow that lives off anger and misery, and by delving into the depths of your mind and soul I have discovered that you have faced a considerable amount of that in your life, so of course you would be a perfect meal. And the angrier and more miserable you are, the more power you provide me with when I devour you." Rukia was disgusted. This hollow...this hollow was evil at its finest. "Not only that," it added, "but once you are dead, then I can show you're little friend here you're lifeless body when he wakes up. And once he sees that-oh, how furious he will become, and I will have another fine meal for myself."

"Coward, come out from your hiding place and fight!" she challenged, trying to test the hollow's pride so she could lure it out, hoping that she could enrage it enough to fight her head to head.

"Nice try, girly, but no thanks," came the hollow, and then Rukia suddenly heard the sound of something coming her way. Barely being able to register where it was coming in time, Rukia practically skidded off to the side, hearing what sounded like sharpened metal hit the ground instead of its intended target, her head.

_Wait... _she thought, as a light bulb went off. _Sharpened metal..._ Rukia suddenly remembered the knives which had been thrown at her and Renji the first time they had come into contact with this monster, and ultimately came to the conclusion that that had to be what this hollow was fighting with.

"Pretty good, just like before..." observed the hollow. "Not that I would expect any less from a shinigami like you." And then there was another sound, from the same spot that the knife had landed, the sound of it being pulled out, and then the what sounded like retracting wire.

That was when it hit her. The could control the knives and pull them back at will because it had them attached to something, probably string or wire. She smirked in the darkness, formulating a plan of what to do to catch this bastard. All she had to do was wait.

And then it came; the sound of another projectile. Rukia dodged again, and this time when it landed, she paid close attention to listen to where it had landed. And before the hollow could pull it back, the small girl quickly reached her hand out and grasped the string with one hand, the other gripping her zanpakuto. She smirked. Yes. Now she had him.

"Evil wench!" hissed the hollow, and with a sharp tug, the string was pulled back. But instead of pulling her up with it like she expected, it slid right through her hands, and the friction it caused instantly burned her skin.

"Shit!" she yelled, swiftly withdrawing her hand and dropping Sode No Shirayuki while her good hand cradled its burnt twin. The hollow let out a loud, amused laugh.

"Nice try, shinigami!" it shouted. "But it's going to take more than that to locate me!" Rukia growled again, now fresh out of ideas and with a stinging, throbbing pain in her right hand. She would have to figure out another way to find this guy.

Then, suddenly, there was another knife, which Rukia almost didn't hear because of the depth she was in thought. She tumbled on the ground, rolling away and retrieving her zanpakuto while dodging all at once. And while she was in the process of picking herself up off the ground, another came, and she had to drop to the ground in a roll again, however this time sustaining a cut on the arm because of the suddenness of the attack.

"Stay still," demanded the hollow. "I can't hit you if you don't freeze for a moment." The word 'freeze' triggered an idea to form in the female shinigami's brain, and she stood up swiftly while readying her zanpakuto, ignoring the warm trickle of blood that was running slowly down her arm towards her hand.

"Dance, Sode No Shirayuki!" she called, and her zanpakuto immediately released, transforming into its pure white form.

"Some No Mai," she continued. The hollow, which was staying silent for now, was most likely watching, waiting to see what she had in store. A huge circle appeared around Rukia, and a bright light emanated from within it. Not enough to locate the hollow, but that hadn't been what Rukia had been going for.

"Trying to make some light so you can see, shinigami?" asked the hollow. "A good idea, but it doesn't look like there's nearly enough to light up this cavern." Just as Rukia expected, the hollow again attempted to stab her, as she could hear another knife coming her way. This time she jumped backwards, using agility as her benefit as she called out,

"Tsuki Shiro!" Rukia landed on her feet just outside the circle, taking delight in the fact that the sharp knife had landed in the middle, and for only a split second was she able to confirm that, yes, the knives which the hollow fought with were attached to thin wires, before a pillar of ice shot up from the circle, and froze the wire with it. She smirked. That hollow wasn't going anywhere now.

"Wh-What!" it exclaimed. "What trickery is this!" Rukia quickly flash stepped to the other side of the frozen pillar, reaching out her hand for the string. When she located it, she grasped it quickly, keeping a hold on Sode No Shirayuki as she swung herself up to balance on it. Supreme balance and stealth was the benefit of shinigami training, and it wasn't hard for the small girl to run up the wire quickly, the hollow screaming in terror all the while.

Soon enough her foot hit solid ground, after which Rukia leapt up, using great force as she blindly struck down on where she predicted the hollow to be. Luckily it hit, and she could feel her weapon slash clean through it. There was one final scream, after which the hollow lit up. Right before it dissipated, though, Rukia caught its shape. It wasn't a large one, she could tell, and she could also make out that each one of the 'knives' the hollow used for combat were actually its claws that it had attached to puppet-string like wires which it could use to control them at will.

But she could only glimpse this for a second, as the hollow dissolved into tiny orbs of light which disappeared quickly. Suddenly, the lights snapped back on, as if someone had just come in and flipped on a light switch.

Only then did Rukia remember why she had come here. Her head whipped around, and she immediately spotted him on a lower level of ledge.

"Renji!" she called happily, quickly jumping down to the lower level to make sure he was alright. Running over to him, she dropped to one knee, before-with slight difficulty-lifting the upper part of his motionless body up. He was just unconscious, thank god-she could tell that he was still definitely alive by his puffs of breath fanning over her face. The small shinigami looked up towards the hole which she had fallen through, and sighed.

It was gonna be hard, but one way or another she was going to have to get him to the surface.

* * *

Byakuya abruptly stopped at the sudden sight of his sister, quickly concealing his own spiritual pressure and taking refuge behind a tree. As far as he could tell, she looked unharmed, except for a gash on her arm, but luckily it didn't look serious. Then the noble spotted something that almost made his mouth turn up into a grin.

His lieutenants head was resting in Rukia's lap, and she was looking over him worriedly. Her zanpakuto lay at her side, and her small handed rested over top his tattooed forehead.

_Yes! _he thought excitedly.

* * *

Renji groaned, opening his eyes as his blurry vision struggled to focus itself. As soon as it did, the first sight he was met with was the upside down face of an unimaginably joyful Rukia.

"Renji!" she exclaimed. "You're alright, I'm so glad!" Seeing her happy made him happy, and he returned the smile, sitting up and turning to face her. Immediately he noticed her tattered shihakusho from where she had been cut, and his featured changed into a worried expression.

"Your arm..." he said, trailing off and gently lifting it so he could examine the wound.

"It's okay," she said, pulling her appendage back, though slightly reluctantly. "It really is. Just a scratch I got when I killed the hollow."

"You killed it!" exclaimed Renji, not expecting that. "Th...That's awesome!" Rukia grinned yet again. And then suddenly, he hugged her. Rukia's eyes widened, surprised at this, as she returned it, her arms slowly coming up to wrap around his neck tightly.

* * *

Byakuya was certain that he would explode. They were hugging...now, he just had to count on their feelings getting the better of them.

* * *

"Renji..." said Rukia, feeling her heart flutter at the length of the hug and of his warm body against hers. He pulled back, still smiling.

"Yeah?" his own heart skipped a beat when he saw her emotion-filled gaze looking up at him. With that and the closeness of their faces, he could feel the urge to just kiss her without any regrets right then and there rise.

"Renji..." she repeated, and she could see the emotion that also rose in his eyes as she spoke his name. She wanted so badly to simply press her lips to his, and right now that thought was overcoming all else.

* * *

Byakuya couldn't believe it. Was this actually happening? After all this time, was it finally going to happen? He unconsciously leaned closer, anticipation getting the better of him.

And because of this, because of all the excitement and anticipation, his spiritual pressure which he had been concealing so skillfully...it slipped.

* * *

"Nii-sama!" called Rukia, suddenly sensing her brother's spiritual pressure, her head snapping to the direction in which she felt it from. Both shinigami stood up, quickly untangling themselves from each other and totally forgetting about their desire to have their lips locked.

* * *

_Kuso!_ cursed Byakuya internally, mentally scolding himself for allowing his spirit energy to slip from his control. He was pissed off beyond belief, but made sure that his reiatsu didn't show it so that neither Renji nor Rukia would get curious about it.

Making it look like he had come from nowhere and hadn't seen any of their conduct, the noble emerged from behind the tree, acting as stoically as ever.

"Renji, Rukia," he said. "It is time to go home. Please follow me." He turned around, walking forwards, and could hear their footsteps behind him. His eye began twitching angrily, which he was glad that neither of them could see. All the while he was thinking,

_DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!_

END OF CHAPTER 8

Woo hoo, I finally got chappy 8 up! And for those of you who are wondering about the people who were sent to get Rukia when Yama got all pissed, don't worry, I didn't forget about them; it'll all be explained next chapter. Tite Kubo owns Bleach, not I, and all and any opinions are welcomed and appreciated!


	9. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 9

Yay, another chapter! ^_^ Hope you enjoy!

Byakuya's Schemes: chapter 9

Byakuya ran his hand through his loose raven locks, while he sat at a small table in the corner of his room, trying to concoct more of his Renji-Rukia-get-together schemes by the faint glow of a rapidly melting candle at his side. But he was stuck. He just couldn't think of anything. He most likely had some version of-oh, what did they call it in the human world?-writer's block. Yes, that was it. He had hit a wall, and no matter how much he tried, he simply couldn't think of another scheme at the moment.

Face still creased in concentration, the noble ultimately decided that the best course of action would be to partake in some much-needed rest. After this whole assassin thing was over, he really needed to stress down. Maybe when he woke up after a good night's sleep he would be able to draw inspiration...

For he was having scheme block.

* * *

Rukia snuggled down into the soft covers of Renji's futon. Her brother insisted that she should stay with Renji another month, just in case. She hadn't protested, of course, being secretly delighted at the fact that she could spend more time with him, and had agreed as soon as it had been mentioned. And Renji had also, not surprisingly, agreed instantly.

_Renji..._ she looked over to him, sleeping on his spare futon, and feeling her heart ache. She didn't want to go into all the reasons why she couldn't confess to him in her head again, so she tried thinking of something else.

As soon as they had returned to Soul Society, her brother had made an excuse for her absence to Yamamoto, saying that she as well had been kidnapped but Byakuya himself had saved the both of them. It had sufficed, though the old man probably had his suspicions, and they weren't in any kind of trouble.

But as Rukia attempted to go to sleep again, she also didn't notice that Renji had been awake, and had noticed her looking at him. He had seen something in her eyes...the moonlight streaming in through the shades on the window had shown him...he had seen the emotion, the love hidden in her heart. The want and desire and yearning that had been pent up over decades of keeping her secret. There was no mistaking it. For all these years...she had also felt what he had, and loved him just as he loved her. For a minute, he had to force himself to come to the full realization of it...she loved him...but once he did, once he did...he almost wanted to cry at the emotion he was feeling.

"Rukia," he said aloud, sitting up, causing the covers on his torso to fall in a bundle to his lap. Rukia had been about to drift off into dreamland when she heard him call her name.

"What...what is it, Renji?" she asked, turning to face him and also sitting upright. She was taken aback by his gaze, which was intensified by the moonlight.

"R...Renji..."

"Rukia..." he repeated. "Do you love me?" His eyes were unwavering, and fixed firmly on her own. Rukia managed to keep herself from screaming "YES!" and throwing herself in his arms. Instead she cleared her throat, replying rather unconvincingly,

"Of course, you're my best friend..."

"No," he said, firmly and immediately. The large man stood up, walking over to her, and then fell to the ground beside her, grabbing her gently by the shoulders. He repeated it again, but with more desperation in his voice.

"Do you love me?" Rukia's eyes began to water as she looked directly into his eyes.

"R-Renji...the family...they would harass you, you would be miserable...you don't deserve to live like that-"

"-Rukia, I don't care about any of that! Forget about everything else, and just tell me! Do you love me!" Rukia was overwhelmed with emotion, tears beginning to streak down her face as her feelings welled up inside of her. Her brain kept saying no, but her heart was screaming yes, her heart was begging and pleading with her to tell him, so that they could love each other and be with each other, and hold each other tightly and lovingly forever, and never let go again.

"H...Hai," she whispered, almost before she knew it. Her heart had won, and the cat was out of the bag. Unexpectedly, Renji also started crying, and he pulled Rukia into a tight embrace.

"I love you so much," he choked out between tears. Oh, how long it had taken him to say that to her...

Her own arms squeezed his body tightly, and Rukia also uttered the words.

"I love you too." And then, their lips met. The tears were gone now, the emotion they felt of having the other love each of them back having been replaced by need and desire that had collected and gathered itself over years of unbearable separation.

Their kisses deepened, and the couples' purely love-driven actions intensified. Rukia had crawled out from under the covers of the futon and was now straddling the still-sitting Renji. Their hands traveled all over each other, and clothing was urgently yet gently pushed aside.

They fell to the futon, and their actions henceforth were of moans, pleasure, and passion as raw and pure as the blazing summer sun.

THE NEXT DAY

"Kuchiki-taicho?" asked Ukitake as the noble strode into his office. Paperwork littered the sickly captain's desk, and said man set his pen down so he could speak with his fellow captain.

"Ukitake...I am having a problem," stated Byakuya. "I am experiencing scheme block." Ukitake raised an eyebrow.

"Scheme block?"

"Correct," confirmed Byakuya. "I am having difficulty forming a plan which will reach my ultimate goal of Renji and Rukia confessing their love to each other." Ukitake understood now.

"I see..." replied Ukitake. "Perhaps it is a sign that you should stop with all of your plans, and let them find each other on their own." Byakuya shot him a questioning glance.

"What are you implying?" he asked, his voice lined with suspicion. Ukitake's eyes hardened.

"All I am saying, Kuchiki-taicho," he began, "Is that it may be the time to give this up."

"Why do you propose this?" Byakuya was slightly irritated now, frustrated that Ukitake was going against him.

"Think about it," said Ukitake. "Your last plan nearly killed the both of them."

"That was not my fault, and you know it!" objected the noble, allowing some anger to break through his cold facade. "The fact that I formulated a plan has nothing to do with the fact that there was an assassin after them!"

"That may be true...but your suggestion was still a reckless one." Surprisingly, Ukitake was the one controlling his anger instead of Byakuya. "What are you going to do next, Kuchiki-taicho?" he asked firmly. "Is it going to be something that really _will _make them disappear?"

At the word 'disappear,' Byakuya jumped. An idea had just sprung to mind. He internally smirked.

"Thank you, Ukitake," he said. "You have broken my scheme block."

* * *

When Renji awoke the next morning, he saw that Rukia was also awake, and sitting up on the futon, her small hands clutching a bundle of sheet just above her breasts and allowing the rest to flow down and cover her torso as she stared off into space. Renji noticed that she seemed upset, so he sat up as well, resting a tattooed arm over her shoulders.

His actions startled the small girl, who jumped slightly at the sudden movement, but then relaxed as she realized that it was just her partner waking up. She looked up at him, smiling and closing her eyes to try and hide her distress.

"Hey," she said softly, but just as with her facial expression, her tone of voice wasn't fooling Renji either. There was something up, and he knew it.

"What's wrong?" he asked, then added teasingly, "Am I a bad screw or something?" A blush quickly spread out across Rukia's face, as she quickly and nervously reassured,

"N-No! Last night was great...And w-what makes you think that something is wrong, you b-bastard!" Rukia's flustered and nervous state had changed to that of being angry and reprimanding, and Renji chuckled, as even though she would never admit it, she could be pretty childish sometimes. Not to mention that she was pretty damn adorable when she was like this.

"Seriously, though," began Renji, returning to the matter at hand, "What's up?" Rukia sighed, realizing that she couldn't fool him, and decided that she had better just tell him already. The small girl felt even more relaxed when her beloved moved his hand down from her shoulder to rub at her back soothingly, his callouses tickling the smooth skin of her bare back as he tried to coax her into letting him know what the matter was.

"It's just...nii-sama, and the family...and, and us...Renji, do you know how hard this is going to be?" She looked up at him with despair reflecting in her violet orbs, and it was obvious that she just needed something from him, some indication of how he wanted to deal with this. He gazed back with a firm look.

"We'll make it through," he assured, his hand having returned to her shoulder, pulling her closer. "If you ask me, the main concern is your brother. Even though I am kinda afraid that he's going to turn me into mince meat, the best option would probably be...would probably be to tell him as soon as possible. So, today." Rukia's eyes widened.

"Wow..." said Rukia, amazed. Renji quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

"You've grown up so much, Renji..." said Rukia seriously, looking up at him tenderly and with a smile. "You're facing your responsibilities like a real man, head on, instead of trying to run away...thank you..." She tucked herself further into his side, her free arm wrapping tightly around his chest. Renji, on the other hand, was surprised as hell. The last thing he had expected from Rukia was an endearment on his maturity. He blushed slightly, tightening his grip around her.

"You know it's not a problem, Ruk..." he said softly, and the both of them simply relaxed then, basking in each others' embrace and in the warm sunlight which was streaming in through the blinds.

END OF CHAPTER 9

FINALLY, I got this thing written. Sorry for the delay, and I know this chap is maybe a tad short, but Renji and Rukia finally got together! ^_^ Next chapter is partly figured out, so I'm going to try and get it up in about a week. Tite Kubo owns Bleach, not I, and I love and appreciate all opinions!


	10. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 10

FORGIVE ME! I feel like such an ass for not updating until now... T_T But, anyways, enjoy this chapter, I hope that everyone can remember what's happening hehe...

Byakuya's Schemes: chapter 10

When Rukia strolled into work the next morning, it was as if she was a whole new person. As if she had been totally reborn, her old shell cast away to reveal the upbeat, beaming Rukia that had been lying in wait for the time when she would finally have something more than friendship with Renji. No one knew that as of now, though.

It was her captain that happened to notice this dramatic change in her personality when she was passing by, and though small things like subordinates going by him usually just obligated him to wave a friendly hello without removing his attention from his work, on this occasion his peripheral vision couldn't help but pick up a happy Rukia practically skipping towards his desk to report in, and he couldn't help but raise his head and see so he could confirm this rarity.

"Good morning, captain," said Rukia with a smile. Either she wasn't trying to hold in her happiness at all, or she was trying and failing. Either way, it was obvious that she was happier than she had been in years.

To this, Ukitake raised an eyebrow expectantly, as the sickly captain could very well guess what the source of her joy was.

"Do I even have to ask?" he said, knowing that Rukia knew what he was implying. The petite shinigami blushed slightly, before shaking her head no. Ukitake was very much pleased at his subordinates attitude, the results being even better than he had expected. Her smile was returned, after which he spoke.

"I'm so happy, taicho...you have no idea." Her eyes were warm and full of love, and Ukitake was very glad that Rukia was this happy.

"That is very good, Rukia," he said. "I'm very happy for you. Now go to your post, okay?" Rukia nodded, before strolling out of her captain's office, closing the door gently behind herself.

_Well_, thought Ukitake, _Either Kuchiki-taicho actually succeeded, or they just finally came to their senses._

_

* * *

_

Renji happily strolled towards the office he shared with his captain, feeling like he was walking on air, and certain that not even a massive hollow invasion could ruin his joyful mood. He and Rukia were together, and neither had any intention of changing that.

Though Renji would spend all day with his captain, he and Rukia had decided this morning before leaving Renji's place that, after work hours that day, they would come to the manor and ask Byakuya for a blessing together. Renji had said that he would do it himself so that Rukia wouldn't have to face her angered nii-sama if it ended up being the worst-case scenario(i.e. A cherry blossom massacre of all people within a 10-mile radius), however Rukia had insisted that they go together, something which he himself had not protested against, as he knew that Rukia was stubborn and strong-willed, and that even if he had denied her that, that she would forcibly go with him anyways. Not that didn't he wanted her to go. In truth, he was scared shitless of what the outcome might be, and was glad to gave her with him.

Suddenly, a hell butterfly floated across his field of vision, and the redhead held out his index finger as a platform that the tiny messenger could land on. As soon as the message had relayed, the butterfly flew up and away, leaving Renji speechless.

"Taicho..." he whispered. And then he was running towards Rukia's office.

* * *

Byakuya stopped in mid-flash step, kneeling to the ground as he involuntarily took deep breaths, knowing that he had to rest. _Damn limitations..._ he cursed himself, as sweat beaded his forehead. He had wanted to get farther away than this before taking a rest, however he knew that his body would not allow it. He had only reached the 40th district, a halfway point to where he was headed, the 80th.

This was his next plan. Hide in Rukongai, as far as way as possible. Renji and Rukia, his lieutenant and his sister, were the two closest people to him in the Soul Society. They would surely both be the two people who were most concerned about his own safety, and would therefore work together closely to find his whereabouts. Eventually, he theorized, they would end up being so close that their feelings would bubble to the surface, and it would be so much that they would confess to each other and then engage in passionate intercourse. He could almost imagine the scene in his head...that was, except the passionate intercourse part...he only imagined that once...

Anyways, once he had received notification from Yachiru(who was assigned the task of spying on them)about them getting together, he planned on coming back to the Seireitei and then making a story that he was drawn out by the presence of a hollow, but then defeated it effortlessly. It was a perfect story! No holes whatsoever! No possible way in the world that it could go wrong!

Kuchiki Byakuya was sure that this plan was full proof. He would succeed this time!...right?

* * *

"What!" exclaimed Rukia, standing up and out of her chair at the news. "Did you say...that he's gone!" The messenger nodded solemnly, and Rukia's eyes widened in horror. Her whole world turned, as what was once joy dominating her being twisted into horrible fear.

And before anything else could be said, the petite shinigami was out the door, running to Renji.

* * *

Ukitake's thoughts reeled as he realized just what his fellow captain had meant when he had said that he was inspired by the word 'disappear.' The messenger had just left. He felt a feeling of irony rise inside him as he realized that Byakuya's attempts were unneeded and unnecessary, because the two shinigami his plans were targeted towards were already, in fact, together.

_I must tell Renji and Rukia of this_, he thought, bolting from his chair and out of his office to find them.

* * *

"Renji!" called Rukia suddenly as she turned a corner and crashed into him. He had seen her in time to slow his run, however she had not, and so Renji was sent tumbling on to his bottom and sitting up, Rukia landing on top of him with her legs in either side of his hips. Before the redhead could even get a word out, Rukia cried,

"Renji!...nii-sama!...he's!...he's!...!" She continued to stutter the word, looking into the eyes of her lover as tears brimmed in her own. Renji, of course, knew exactly what she was referring to, and had been running to her for the exact same reason. His eyes softened as he stared at her saddened ones.

"I know, Rukia," he replied solemnly. At this, the raven-haired girl burst into tears, allowing the dam to break as she buried her face into Renji's chest. Muffled sobs arose from the girl, and Renji could not help but wear a pained expression as he put a hand on her head, cradling it as she continued to cry into his rapidly moistening shihakusho. Just a few months ago, she would not have been this saddened about her brother's disappearance, however recently the two had grown closer as siblings, and Rukia was truly hurt by this occurrence.

After a few minutes of this, Rukia sobbing and Renji stroking her hair, the small shinigami suddenly silenced herself, and pulled back, hands resting on Renji's chest as her eyes reflected determination. The redhead's orbs widened at her sudden and without-warning change of attitude, as his beloved stared at him seriously.

"We're going to find him," she said simply, and Renji smirked. It was obviously far from a question. As soon as Rukia saw the glint of agreement in Renji's eyes, she grinned back.

"You've read my mind."

* * *

Byakuya sat on the cold floor of the shallow cave, looking out at the setting sun. He had managed to make it out to the farthest reaches of the 80th district by nightfall, and was exhausted from his efforts.

The noble's back rested against the damp wall of the cavern, as he continued to stare at the beautiful sunset, which caused the sky to engulf itself in pink and orange and a mix of other soft colors. Suddenly, a memory came to him. A memory which had been long stored in his mind, resting there...

"_Byakuya-sama, look..." called Hisana softly, gently taking her husband's hand as the sun lowered over the land. The small woman seemed almost entranced at the beauty of it, and found it almost impossible to tear her gaze from the scene. Said man stood from the bench where his wife had been next to him just moments ago and interlaced their fingers together, causing a small giggle from her._

"_It is quite beautiful," he commented, replying to her statement, and moving closer to her, so close he could feel the warmth radiating from her tiny body._

"_So beautiful..." Hisana's statement was just above a whisper, but Byakuya heard it, and smiled warmly at her entrancement._

"_I love you, Byakuya-sama," she said suddenly, turning to face him with a smile. His own smile widened, and he leaned down to place a small kiss on her lips._

"_I love you too, Hisana..."_

...But that was just a memory, a moment from long ago which was something he could never hope to re-live. That was when Byakuya reminded himself of why he was going to all this trouble for the sake of his sister and lieutenant.

The both of them deserved happiness, deserved the feeling one has when they are in love and knows that another loves them back. It was something he was determined to accomplish, no matter how long it took him.

* * *

"Do you have everything, Renji?" asked Rukia, as she slid her zanpakuto into her obi. Luckily, they had managed to get permission from the head captain to go this alone. Obviously, the old man recognized both the devotion of a sister to her brother and of a lieutenant to their captain, and both were glad that they would not have to sneak out of Soul Society like Rukia had been forced to do just a few days ago.

"Yeah, I do," he answered, emerging from his bedroom to meet her just outside the door. "Do _you _have everything?" he countered teasingly, grinning wildly after his statement. Rukia scoffed.

"Of course I do, baka. Who do you take me for?" The small girl pulled on her small backpack of supplies and straightened up, appearing as if she was all ready to go. Renji shrugged.

"Dunno. I just wanted to mess with ya." Renji chuckled, as Rukia shot a half-threatening glare his way.

"Whatever," she replied. "Let's just go. The sooner we find nii-sama, the better." She proceeded to open the door, before the slight weight of Renji's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Hey," he said. "I love ya." He said it in that deep, sexy voice of his so tenderly that Rukia swore she had just been hypnotized. It was a simple statement, however it was all sh needed for her insides to warm and her legs to go weak.

"Love you too," she whispered back weakly, and she tilted her head back so that he could lean over her from behind and plant a chaste kiss on her lips. When he pulled back, both parties were smiling lovingly at the other, and then Rukia turned her head forward again so that they leave.

"Let's go."

END

Again, I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry for not updating, and I deserve it if you guys complain. Tite Kubo owns Bleach, I don't, and please feel free to leave any and all comments and opinions, I love and appreciate every single one!


	11. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 11

Random inspiration struck today, and I finished the majority of this chapter all at once. I won't blame anyone if they complain, I'm really sorry for the lateness...Enjoy.

Byakuya's Schemes: Chapter 11

Ukitake rushed into the head captain's office, panting and sweating as he slammed his palms down on the old man's desk.

"What is the meaning of this, Ukitake!" exclaimed Yamamoto, surprised that his student had burst into his office with no warning whatsoever.

"I need to know the location of two shinigami," he got out between pants. "Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia. It is extremely important that I speak to them immediately." Yamamoto's brow wrinkled.

"Do you not know, Ukitake?" he asked. "They have left the seireitei, on a mission to recover Kuchiki Byakuya." Ukitake's eyes widened, and he cursed internally.

"Do you know where they're headed to?" Yamamoto raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly why do you need to know this information, Ukitake?" asked the old man suspiciously. Ukitake cursed himself once again, knowing that revealing such things could put Renji, Rukia, or even Byakuya at risk.

"If you don't tell me, people's well being may be at risk," he replied. He wasn't _exactly _telling the truth, but he wasn't lying either. Surprisingly, Yamamoto seemed to accept the excuse, as he relaxed a bit, leaning back into his chair somewhat.

"They are scouring Rukongai in search of him," he clarified, folding his hands on the desk before him. "They have most likely left already."

"Do you know where they may be about now?" asked the white-haired captain, hoping that his superior knew, though he knew it was unlikely.

"Sadly, no," answered Yamamoto. "But judging on the fact that they should have departed approximately thirty minutes ago, it's likely they haven't made it past the second or third district." Ukitake sighed with a slight degree of relief, glad that he had at least a rough idea of their whereabouts.

"Thank you, Yamamoto-soutaicho."

* * *

Yachiru skirted over the rooftops of the seireitei, jumping about and using ledges and pillars to hide her presence from the two shinigami whom she was assigned to follow. It was her job to observe their behavior, and then report back to Byakuya every three hours, or if something major happened.

"Byakushi," she whispered into her walkie talkie as she saw that Renji and Rukia were heading for the north gate of the court of pure souls.

"Yes?" came the fuzzy answer from the end.

"Your little sister and pineapple head are leaving," she said just as they reached the gate.

"What?"

"They're leaving," she repeated. "They're going to Rukongai." There was a pause on the other end, before Byakuya spoke,

"Are they alone or with a team?"

"It's just them two," clarified Yachiru.

"Good," replied Byakuya. "Yachiru, your work is done here. Your candy is in Zaraki-taicho's barracks." The pink-haired girl immediately squealed, dropping her human world communication device as she bolted away to her reward.

* * *

Ukitake ran, or attempted to, towards the seireitei gates that led out into the Rukon, his breathes becoming progressively heavier due to his poor health. Stopping, he leaned against a pillar to support himself, feeling as if he were about to go into another coughing fit.

"Why don't you take a minute to rest?" asked a familiar voice from nearby. Ukitake raised his head to meet the sight of his long-time best friend, Kyouraku Shunsui.

"Sh-Shunsui?" he asked, confused as the perverted man walked over to him, stopping just before the sickly captain.

"You, my friend, are headed to the fourth division," stated Kyouraku, practically cutting his companion off.

"Shunsui, you don't understand!" exclaimed Ukitake. "Renji and Rukia-"

"-Are going to be fine, because _I'm _going to follow after them while _you _take a rest in the fourth." Ukitake's eyebrow raised in confusion.

"How do you-?"

"-Did I ever mention that Nanao-chan was the top of her class when it came to stealth and spy tactics?" asked Kyouraku, interrupting his friend's sentence for the third time. It was obvious now that Ukitake understood.

"Come on, big guy," huffed Kyouraku before Ukitake could even get a word out, as he lifted his buddy's arm around his shoulder, supporting the man as they began to travel in the direction of the healing sector of soul society.

"Thank you, Shunsui," said Ukitake gratefully, allowing himself to relax somewhat. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Yeah I do," corrected Kyouraku. "You love all your subordinates, and you want Rukia especially to be happy. It's how you've always been." He cocked a grin. "And, as for me, you know very well that I can't resist a good romance." Ukitake chuckled.

"That certainly is true, considering you had a good many of them in the academy."  
A faint blush appeared on Kyouraku's face, and he put a finger to his lips to signal silence.

"Don't tell Nanao-chan," he said. "I'm afraid she'll be jealous." Ukitake burst out into laughs, which quickly turned into coughs as the man doubled over. Kyouraku's eyes widened.

"We'd better get a move on," he said, "or I'm afraid you're gonna cough up a lung."

* * *

Side by side, Renji and Rukia walked through the streets of Rukongai in search of Byakuya. They were only in the third district so far, which meant that they hasn't even made a dent in their search efforts. Not to mention that there were a good amount of people that tended to shy away from them because they were shinigami, making it difficult to get information from anyone.

"Have you sensed him yet, Renji?" asked Rukia as they neared where the third district met the fourth.

"Nope," replied the redhead flatly, somewhat disheartened that they hadn't made any progress. "You?"

"No," she said, sighing as they continued to walk down the dirt streets.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay, Rukia?" asked Renji, concerned. She hadn't said much, and even though he knew she had plenty of hope that they would discover Byakuya's whereabouts, he knew that she was still considerably crestfallen.

"I'm fine," she replied, but Renji could tell that it wasn't just a false statement that she was using to cover up her true feelings. She looked up at him, smiling. "I know we're going to find him," she said. "There's no doubt about it, because nii-sama's strong, and we're strong." The words were simple, but they conveyed so much that Renji couldn't help but return her grin with one of his own.

"Yeah." Suddenly, just as they were entering the fourth district, Renji and Rukia heard loud shouts coming from nearby, both shinigami placing a hand on their respective zanpakutos. They knew that it could mean trouble.

"I seen it!" came another shout, which snapped Renji and Rukia's heads in its direction. Immediately, they relaxed. It wasn't any kind of trouble. It was just a lunatic woman, yelling on about ridiculous sights that she claimed to have sensed. It wasn't uncommon for things like that to happen, especially if said psychopath was from the higher-numbered districts, where food was short and incredibly high temperatures were abundant all year round. So, the couple simply began passing by, ignoring the woman's ramblings.

"I seen it, I swear!" she continued. "It was a shinigami captain from the court of pure souls!" Now that, that caught they're attention once more, and both individuals moved closer to listen.

"He bumped right into me!" screamed the woman. "It was only for just a moment, but he bumped into me and I saw him, his hair was done in crazy glass ornaments and his white haori had the number six on the back!" Both Renji and Rukia's eyes widened, and they exchanged shocked and excited glances before sprinting off into the direction the woman was saying Byakuya had gone.

* * *

Byakuya sat against a rock, allowing a smile to ghost across his face, not only because he was alone at the moment, but because Renji and Rukia were coming for him, alone and together. Though he had failed before, he was extremely confident in this plan. True, many would say it was quite reckless, but Byakuya knew that it was necessary for Renji and Rukia's sake.

Opening up the medium-sized bag of food he had brought along to sustain himself for the trip, the noble's smile turned down into a frown as he realized he was extremely low on necessities. He needed more food, and more importantly, he needed more water. He had plenty of money, but knew that going into the part of the district where the populace was would not only cause an uproar, but put his scheme at a high risk of failure.

His frown deepening, Byakuya looked over to the river, where he knew there was an abundance of fish to eat. Even though he was confident that he had the ability to catch one, the man was rather ashamed to admit that he didn't hold the knowledge of how to start a fire.

Byakuya looked at his small amount of food once more, and then sighed in frustration. One way or another, he was going to have to find some common clothing and disguise himself as a Rukon citizen so he could buy food.

Starvation was almost certain if he didn't.

END OF CHAPTER 11

Finally...it's finally done *sighs* I won't complain if I'm given any shit, I know that I fully deserve it. Hope you enjoyed, all comments/opinions are welcome and appreciated. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, not I.


	12. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 12

I know, I know. I'm a bum :( Very sorry for the late updates, but I've been very busy for the past 2 weeks T_T Hopefully, now that a little pressure is off, I can start updating more stuff again. And, just to clarify, yes, Renji and Rukia ARE together at this point in the story. If you want to read the scene where that happened, it's in chapter 9. I hope you enjoy!

Byakuya's Schemes: Chapter 12

Byakuya paced around his campsite, just outside the cave. At this point, he had determined that it was necessary to go incognito as a normal citizen of the Rukon. Sadly, he could not conjure up a kidou fire to solve the problem, because that would force him to release a fair amount of spiritual pressure, which, he knew, could alert his presence to the the people of the Rukon that had spirit energy, or even worse, it could attract hollows. And, Byakuya was not willing to risk either possibility.

But, also, going into the part of the district where the people were was also dangerous, since his robes immediately identified him as a shinigami. Though he could easily remove his kenseiken to hide his nobility, the clothing, alone, made him stick out like a sore thumb. Even on the way here, he had tried to stay out of the more populated areas for the sake of being conspicuous.

Somehow, he would have to find commoner clothes. The noble thought for a moment. In places such as these, the residents bathed in creeks and rivers. And, that also meant that they probably tended to leave their clothes on nearby rocks. Hm...if he could chance upon a man bathing, he could, perhaps...Byakuya felt guilty at his next thought. He would have to take someone else's clothing. Not once had he ever stolen anything from anyone, and in a noble family, theft was one of the worst crimes, sometimes seen as worse and more treacherous than things like adultery and assault.

Maybe...he could leave money for the person? That still would not atone, he knew, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. And so, already able to feel the guilt creeping into his body, Byakuya set out in search of a creek.

* * *

"Where is he, Renji?" Rukia asked her lover rhetorically. She was a bit worried, at this point. They had been following the directions of the crazy woman who had claimed to see a shinigami matching Byakuya's description, but still, they couldn't seem to catch any hint of his spiritual pressure. Sure, they had only trekked to district 16 or so, but still, Byakuya's massive reiatsu could normally be easily detected, even from far away. It was almost like he was hiding it or something.

"I dunno, Rukia," answered the redhead. "Do you think we should start asking other people about it?" Rukia sighed in defeat, shaking her head.

"Nah, I don't think that would work," she replied. "We got lucky to find someone in the _fourth _district who admitted to seeing him." Neither shinigami had to point out to each other the fact that fear born from ignorance(and, sometimes, hatred grown from jealousy)of the shinigami grew worse as the district number grew higher. "Even _if _anyone saw him, I doubt they would even _talk _to us, let alone tell us anything." When Rukia had gone searching for Renji alone, the situation had been a bit different. She, herself, was not a very threatening-looking person, and, besides her clothing, she didn't exactly stick out so much, partly due to her height. But when it was the _both _of them, she _and _Renji, it was very predictable that there might be problems. Not only did Renji's tattoos make him look like some kind of gang member, but he was rather tall, and had a hair color that attracted attention, which, in most cases, was not a good thing, given the circumstances. Not to mention the nasty look he had most of the time, partly due to his inked eyebrows.

"I guess..." muttered the male, scratching at the back of his head. Suddenly, just as they were pondering what to do, there was a flash from beside them, and Renji barely had time to pull out his zanpakuto and block a hatchet that was coming down on him hard and fast. The wielder of the weapon was an angry Rukongai man, his teeth bared and veins popping all over his head. He was panting heavily, but even after Renji had blocked the attack, the man continued pushing down with maximum force, as if he was trying to split Zabimaru in two.

"You filthy shinigami!" spat the man, not letting up in his efforts. "What business have you here! Aren't you content enough living in your warm homes, well-fed and clothed? Why do feel the need to come out here and torture us with your luck?" This was one of the 'hatred-grown-from-jealousy' types, which was made even more obvious by the fact that he didn't contain a single ounce of spiritual pressure.

"Please, sir, calm down." Rukia tried to coax the man, attempting desperately to calm his temper so as not to make a bigger scene, though she knew it didn't quite matter much, at this point. Even when rumbles went on in the streets, in plain daylight, people would walk past without a look, trying to avoid conflicts, in order to keep their own bodies in tact. Even chancing being brought into a brawl by accident was not worth the risk, as no one in the depressed area could afford any kind of healer. Any glimpses of fights they might catch were to be passed on later, in the form of gossip. "Please, sir," repeated Rukia, "we're not trying to harm anyone. We're simply looking for our comrade-"

"-Your _comrade_?" hissed the man. "That's all you shinigami look out for, each other! Never mind the starving people in the streets that weren't blessed with the gift of reiatsu!" He withdrew his hatchet suddenly, causing Renji to inadvertently swing his sword upward, leaving his torso unguarded. The attacking man too another swing, aiming right for Renji's stomach, however, this time, it was Rukia's zanpakuto that stopped the blow.

"Sir," said Rukia once more, her tone filled with poison as she glared at him, a stone-cold anger filling her eyes, "I'm going to ask you one more time: lower your weapon. We haven't even said a word to anyone, let alone provoked a fight. Drop. The. Hatchet." The man seemed to tame himself some, his body ceasing its trembling motion. He continued to let up force on Rukia's sword, until he had fully removed his weapon from its side. The man stepped back, as if surrendering, though Renji's eyes were still narrowed, anticipating any kind of violence.

"We will never bow to you Soul Reapers!" It was a loud, yelled proclamation, but it did not come from the man wielding a hatchet. It was from behind them. In surprise, both individuals whipped around, a very bad and amateurish move, considering the fact that there was an armed man on the other side of them. The man now charging them held a small scythe, and as soon as Renji and Rukia were distracted, his buddy didn't hesitate to swing his hatchet down onto Rukia's spine. Rusted metal never met skin, however, as Renji's foot was sent flying into the man's stomach, using such force that he was thrown directly into a fruit stall 20 feet behind himself.

While that was happening, Rukia's zanpakuto hooked into the scythe that the other man was wielding, and she used the advantage to pull the weapon from the man's hands, throwing it off into the wooded area behind one of the nearby stands. Immediately, the man slunk backwards, falling to his bottom on the ground, as the other man lay unconscious before a wooden stall.

But, before they could even recover from the shock of the battle, more men came. A lot more. Stall owners crept out from behind their wooden huts, charging them with rusted farming equipment. That was when the death gods realized that this was not simply a collection of random bystanders: it was an organized group, opposed to the shinigami. And all they could do was defend themselves, not able to strike the attackers with anything but their body parts.

"Shit, what are they doing?" said Rukia, struggling to keep her guard up in all directions. She and Renji were back to back, attempting to protect each other and themselves at the same time.

"I wish we could use our zanpakuto's on 'em," commented Renji. "It would make it a hell of a lot easier if we could just slash 'em down in two's and three's." Rukia wanted the same thing, but being shinigami, their duty was to defend humans and the people of Rukongai. Even if some hated them, they could not, under any circumstances, attack them with their swords. So, they had to settle with this, mostly defending themselves as a small mob formed around them...

* * *

Exiting the fourth division building, Kyouraku pulled out his cell-phone like soul communicator, flipping it open so he could attempt to contact Rukia. True, he had no idea whether she had brought with her the one he had given to her, but there was no harm in trying, he figured.

Holding the device to his ear after dialing the correct numbers, the man waited for someone to pick up. After only a couple rings, though, the phone went silent, no one having picked up, and when the captain pulled back to look, the screen said that the communicator he was trying for was unable to be found.

_Uh-oh..._ he thought, knowing that he had typed in the right number, and that his response meant only one thing: somehow, Rukia's communicator had been destroyed. Which meant that she could be in serious danger.

Placing his own device back inside the depths of his robes, Kyouraku hurried away, heading towards the gates.

* * *

Rukia leaned back against a tree, allowing herself to slide down to her knees, the rough bark scraping the fabric of her clothing as she did so. Somehow, she and her lover had escaped the mob of angry citizens, without causing any of them serious casualties. Luckily, they, themselves, had also managed to stay relatively uninjured. They had only sustained scrapes and bruises. Panting, the female shinigami hung her head, trying to catch her breath.

"You okay?" asked Renji, walking over to her, his ponytail a mess as he panted as well. During their brawl, he had gotten about half his shirt ripped off, but everything else seemed in tact.

"I'm okay," she assured, "just tired. Those guys have a lot of fight in them." Bracing her hands on the ground, Rukia began to stand up, until she felt something strange in her shihakusho. Giving a face, she paused in her movement, reaching into the folds of her garment, her eyes widening upon her discovery. Quickly retracting her hand, the small girl pulled out a handful of crushed metal pieces. "Shit..."

"What's that?" asked Renji, eyebrow raising at the sight.

"It's a communicator Kyouraku-taicho gave me," she replied. "He gave it to me when I went to find you, just in case I needed it. I brought it with me for this too, but..." She didn't need to finish her sentence. "It must have been destroyed when that brute with the saw tripped me." She finished standing up, replacing the broken pieces inside of her robe, and then glanced at the setting sun. It was only now that the raven-haired woman realized how late it was.

"Damn bastards kept us forever," commented Renji, also looking at the pinkening sky. "We should probably crash here for the night. Especially after that fight, we need some rest." Rukia nodded in agreement. Directly after, she took the redhead's hand, leading him to a nearby tree, one that was so tall it looked to reach the heavens, and which was so big around that they could comfortably sit next to each other while sleeping. Sitting, Rukia kept a hold on Renji's hand, tugging it a bit, in an effort to make him sit next to her. The male shinigami obliged, a smile spreading across his face, leaning his back against the large tree as he positioned himself directly next to his beloved, her snuggling closer as she laced their fingers, resting herself against his arm.

"Night, Renji," whispered Rukia, her eyes drooping as she grew tired, an effect brought about by being snuggled against her partner's warm body.

"Night, Rukia." Renji smiled, tightening his grip on said woman's hand.

* * *

Finally, he had found it. After an entire day of fruitless searching, Byakuya had come upon clothing. The garment, thrown carelessly and crumpled atop a nearby rock, was a dull jade green color, and looked close to his size. The noble could hear the owner of the clothing grumbling complaints to himself in the river, splashing about angrily.

Approaching said rock more, Byakuya narrowed his eyes, attempting to be a stealthy as possible, so he could retrieve what he needed. With every step, however, he could feel the weight in his chest grow heavier, and couldn't help the disgust he felt with himself for stealing. Just as he was getting very close to the target, one hand braced to grab it and run as the other held the money he planned to leave, there was a shout.

"HEY!" exploded the bathing man, and Byakuya's head snapped in the direction of the yell. Luckily, only the man's torso was showing, however, he was coming out of the water, FAST, and the noble DEFINITELY didn't want to see anything else.

"Wait!" replied Byakuya, holding a hand up. The man halted immediately, only now seeming to realize that Byakuya was a shinigami, and waited for more words. "Sir," said Byakuya, calmly, "I wish to buy you clothing. I have with me 8000 yen. Is it a deal." The man's eyes widened to platters, and, instantly, he bowed to the noble, nodding fervently.

"Oh, yes, sir, their all yours!" he said happily, bowing over and over. 8000 yen for his ratty old clothes...it was a steal! "Thank you, sir, thank you so much!" Without a word, Byakuya snatched up the requested item, no longer feeling guilty, as he left the money in its place, shunpoing away.

END OF CHAPTER 12

So, Byakuya can go into Rukongai now, and I managed to get in some RenRuki fluff. And, right here, I should probably just make an apology for all my late updates now and in the future :( Again, I've just been super busy the last two weeks, and it can be hard to find inspiration in between. Thanks to all who put up with my craziness. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, not myself, and I love and appreciate all opinions!

P.S. If you're interested, feel free to check out my poll!


	13. Byakuya's Schemes: Chapter 13

Okay, well…the fact is. I haven't updated in nearly a year, and I can't take that back, and as much as I apologize for it, it happened, and I'm still a douche. So, even though I can't give back all that time you readers have spent waiting for an update and following this story, I apologize. Deeply. I feel like a horrible person. Life and writer's block are truly cruel things…I hope you can enjoy this (finally) new chapter.

Byakuya's Schemes: Chapter 13

A FEW DAYS LATER

Byakuya walked among the citizens of the 80th district, clothed in his recently-obtained garments, his hair down, void of its usual ornaments. He had carefully stashed his shinigami clothing under a hollow in a tree, and was now searching for a stand where he could purchase a meal and some water. Stopping by a booth which was managed by a burly man whose arms were crossed, he retrieved a money pouch from his yukata.

"May I have-" he was cut off as a small hand swept a loaf of bread off the counter afore him, and then the next thing Byakuya saw was a small child with knobby knees bolting away from he and the brutish man, and not a moment later the stand-keeper was chasing after the boy, cursing insults and reproaches.

"You little brat!" he spat, running relentlessly behind the child whom the comments were directed at. Byakuya, acting fast, flash-stepped behind a stall that the boy was approaching, and then came out from behind it, stopping the thief easily with a hand placed firmly on his head, stopping him from running while taking him by surprise, as he was too concerned with looking back at the shop owner. As soon as the boy realized how and why he was being halted from his sprint, he desperately tried to get away from Byakuya like a fish plucked from water, however the noble's grip held firm.

"I've got you, little cur!" snarled the burly man, roughly grabbing the child's shoulder and yanking him from Byakuya's hold. None-too-gently, he took the bread from the boy.

"No, please!" yelled the youngling. "My sister's sick! She needs-" but before he could finish his plea, the older man shoved him away, almost causing him to fall over, and then thanked Byakuya before trudging away back to his stall before another rugrat tried to steal from him. The boy, tears rising in his eyes, was about to run off, but then Byakuya caught his shoulder. The child's eyes flashed fear when he whipped his head around to look at the older male, but then showed confusion as Byakuya kneeled to his level, presenting him with a small pouch of currency.

"Rather than trying to steal moldy bread for your sister," began the death god, in his usual, emotionless tone, "why don't you purchase her some decent medicine." Eyes shining, the boy slowly accepted the bag, and then bowed quickly, before running off. Then Byakuya, corners of his mouth lifting slightly, began walking towards another food stand.

* * *

Another day of searching. That was what Renji and Rukia were in for. As the two neared the populous area near the woods they had slept in last night, making sure to hide their spiritual pressure so as not to be discovered, it dawned on both the fact that this was going to be hard. Very hard. The initial optimism and energy they had when they first began was wavering, even though they still had hope that Byakuya would be able to make it long enough for them to rescue him. The attack a few days ago hadn't helped things, and the young couple was at a state where worry was starting to _really _set in.

"We can probably start at that shop over there," suggested Renji, pointing to the object of his interest. Rukia nodded her agreement. But, just as they began treading in said direction, Rukia's eye caught something-a pale face, dark raven hair, and stoic gray eyes.

"Renji!" she exclaimed, though she kept her voice to a minimum, so that who she thought was Byakuya wouldn't hear them. She yanked on the redhead's sleeve to halt him, an action which made him whip his head around to her form, confusion and surprise alight in his eyes.

"Wha-" his attempt at speaking proved futile and useless, as Rukia quickly and hopefully spat out,

"Nii-sama! Renji, it's nii-sama!" Her voice a bit as she exclaimed the statement, but 'Byakuya' didn't seem to notice, and Renji whirled once again, this time to face the man in question. As he observed the features of the person, walking nonchalantly through the crowded streets, his eyes widened as he realized that, despite the common, worn clothing he wore, he was, in fact, the one and only Byakuya Kuchiki.

But even as Renji fully came to this realization, Rukia was already tugging him towards her brother, joy present in her large violet orbs, everything falling to the back of her mind at the fact that she and Renji had found her beloved sibling. Among those things that lost her attention was her tight control over her reiatsu, and as soon as she let the suppression of her spiritual energy loose, Byakuya perked up slightly, starting as, suddenly, he disappeared in a bout of flash step. Rukia's face fell just as quickly as it had brightened up upon seeing Byakuya, and she could only stand there, shocked, so confused as to why Byakuya would hurry away so swiftly upon sensing her.

Renji, on the other hand, was more focused, reacting quickly as he hefted his beloved up into his arms, shunpoeing right after his captain. He was as confused as Rukia was, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted answers, answers about where Byakuya had gone in the first place and why he was now fleeing from he and Rukia.

* * *

_Shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT! _Byakuya couldn't count the number of times he had expressed these same sentiments in the past month or so, as once again, his plan of joining his sister and lieutenant into a relationship was crumbling to bits. The moment he had sensed Rukia's reiatsu, he had panicked, knowing that, if Renji wasn't with her, then his scheme was a failure. Of course, he could've checked to see whether she was alone or not…but he couldn't take the chance. Already, plan after plan had failed in his objective, and he was reaching the end of his rope with how long he could keep Renji and Rukia oblivious to his intentions. The idea he was presently executing was almost his last resort.

As he continued to uncharacteristically drown in his thoughts, Byakuya was halted both in them and in his tracks, nearly running into Renji as the young lieutenant appeared before him, almost instantaneously. Byakuya's eyes widened, as he cursed himself for his rare lapse of daydreaming. As he fully refocused himself on the real world, Byakuya couldn't help but be struck by the meld of emotions within Renji eyes-relief that his captain was safe; confusion as to why Byakuya had run away from he and Rukia; and, most prominent at the moment, a hard edge, anger that his captain had put Rukia into a distressful state by leaving the second she had found him and-oh, wait…Rukia…

Byakuya shifted his gaze so it rested on his recently set-down sister, feeling guilt clench tightly in his gut as he looked upon her confused and hurt expression. He truly felt bad; even though he recognized his bigger goal of uniting her with Renji, it killed him that he had to hurt his younger sibling so.

"Renji, Rukia," he said, reverting to his cold trademark personality, "I realize the both of you are anxious to know what has happened"-gods, he could barely ignore the almost-murderous look in his lieutenant's eyes-"and if you would please follow me to a secluded location I have found, I will explain everything." The emotions in their eyes did not recede, however both gave curt nods and followed the older man as he began moving.

* * *

The trio sat down on the dirt ground, Renji and Rukia still wearing guarded, distant expressions as Byakuya began his partially made-up story.

"A week ago, the night before I disappeared," he began, making sure to retain his stoic character, "I was taking a walk around the outskirts of the court of pure souls, and I was ambushed by a hollow." Byakuya attempted to sense for a sign of relaxation from the two younger shinigami, however none came. So, he decided to continue. "I struck back, and easily wounded the creature," he said. "But it ran away. I resolved to follow after it, and I had no time to alert the guards or any other shinigami. I have been chasing the hollow throughout the Soul Society, and I am currently hiding out in this spot while I scout for it." He closed his eyes, awaiting a response, and after what seemed like eternity, he got one.

"Why did you run away from us, taicho?" he asked, giving the older man a serious stare. Byakuya's eyes snapped open...he had forgotten that aspect of the story…

"When I sensed a sudden spiritual pressure, I had no time to identify it," he said. "I did not have time to recognize it as Rukia's, and so, in case it was the hollow, I had to get away from the area to assess where the creature was, on the off-chance that it was trying to ambush me. I apologize to you both. It was not my intention to confuse you by retreating. And, as I have not be able to sense the hollow in a couple days, we shall return to the seireitei, and file a report there." A part of him wished he could give a more sincere apology, however he had to stay as in-character as possible, so he wouldn't attract their suspicion.

Rukia, who's eyes had averted to the ground, now looked up to her older brother, letting a small smile grace her face, the hurt in her eyes gradually fading as she nodded.

"It's alright, nii-sama," she said. "You were doing the right thing, acting on your duty as a shinigami. I'm sure both I and Renji would have acted the same." Satisfied that his sister understood his faux reasons-_even though he still felt guilt at lying to her_-he then looked to Renji, who had also calmed down, the rage in his brown orbs settling to understanding.

"There's something Renji and I need to tell you as well, nii-sama," said Rukia unexpectedly, earning Byakuya's attention. He looked at Rukia with surprise, observing as she looked up at Renji with a smile. The redhead looked shocked at the moment, telling the senior shinigami that whatever this information was, its revelation was spontaneous and unplanned on Rukia's part. However, the surprise faded from Renji's face, as he returned Rukia's smile, nodding at her. Rukia then directed her attention towards Byakuya, who's internal hopes were waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy up, before opening her mouth to speak.

"Nii-sama-" The raven-haired girl was cut off abruptly as Captain Kyouraku Shunsui appeared before the three, unaware of what he was intruding upon as he shocked them all. As the trio stared at him, open-mouthed, a smile spread across his whisker-ridden face.

"Surprised ya, didn't I?" he asked. Before there was a response from anyone, he continued, "Now, we should be getting back to Soul Society, shouldn't we? They can take your statement there, Kuchiki-taicho." As soul reapers of lower class than he, Renji and Rukia followed the order promptly, standing together and following him as he turned his back to leave. Byakuya sat there for a minute, some indescribable mix of outrageous, frustrating emotions filling him all at once, threatening to erupt. Anger, madness, the desire to strangle his fellow captain…was that enough? No, no, it was _much_ worse than that.

As Byakuya stood to follow him three companions, only one thought was present within his mind.

Back to square one…again. Gods.

END OF TWELFTH INSTALLMENT

Okay, so I'm almost sure I'm going to end this next chapter. It's had a good run, and I think everyone is satisfied with where it's gone and has ended up so far, as am I. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo. Responses are welcome and loved.


	14. Byakuya's schemes: chapter 14

Here it is, my friends. After two long years, my first fanfiction comes to an end. I want to thank all of you reading for putting up with my few and far between updates, and I want to deeply thank those who have reviewed: Oceanee, Xionluna, Aeducan, HinaFilipina18, NOT-ATIVE, Buzybees, famartin, KendoGirl95, Punky Brewster1, yoyogigi125, Ghille Dhu, SmOrOnPwNs, JenJenJen13, EaglefootMoonflightVipertail , ChibiLady, Sanz0girl, Yucchan YunYun, Rosiexxxxxx, eli, TErock95, war90, Lilly, Emerald Tsukino, EmeraldHeart12, madman42, Meggels, Esmeia, Mary Lou, rook, shin-shin-to, moonlightrurouni, and Jenlol1. Reviews mean a lot to any author, and I've always felt amazing after getting them-the fact that I've got so many, with 79, floors me. So, once again, thank you all :) And here, my friends, is the final installment-enjoy.

Byakuya's Schemes: Chapter 14

Byakuya was at his office early today, at a loss for what to do, and unable to really sleep. He had a vague idea of something new he could do-but, as he halfheartedly wrote it on a scratch slip of paper, he couldn't help but notice that, while doing it, he felt...weird. Maybe it was the many failures he had experienced, or perhaps it was the fact that the effects of his actions were catching up to him. For the first time, his hope was dwindling. He dearly wished to see Renji and Rukia finally have the ability to be together, but it just seemed as if they were too star-crossed for their own good. And that was not to mention what had come of his doing. He had inconvenienced Ukitake and Shunsui, caused pain and fear for both Renji and Rukia, and just made a big mess of things...he couldn't help but feel guilty...

Byakuya's pen stopped in mid-loop, his eyes narrowing. This was not going as planned at all-nothing was working out the way he had wanted it to. It was so frustrating, so irritating...he was trying so hard to make it work, to do this for the ones he cared about, but everything had just turned into a huge blunder. He looked up at the clock, pondering his situation as he noticed that it was about time for Renji to report in.

As he looked back down to his new plan of action, Byakuya's ears picked up the noise of two voices outside his office, making him wonder who in the world was accompanying his lieutenant. A moment later, there was a knock, and he replied with an affirmative statement, telling the visitors that they could enter as he discreetly covered the paper he had been writing on with his arm. A moment later, the door to his office opened up, and he nearly lost his calm, collected appearance as he saw that it was Rukia who had been with Renji.

"Nii-sama, I apologize for us interrupting your work," was the first thing that came out of her mouth, "But Renji and I need to talk to you about something important." Her eyes were downcast, like she was very nervous, and Renji was in a similar state. It took all of Byakuya's willpower for him to resist the widening of his eyes, as a dot of hope arose within him.

"Nii-sama, we humbly ask that-"

"-Taicho, please allow me Rukia's hand in marriage!" cut in the redhead, interrupting his beloved as he knelt on the floor, his forehead touching the ground. Rukia's head snapped in his direction, her eyes going big, and Byakuya couldn't help but think how what his lieutenant had just done was so excruciatingly in-character.

"I love Rukia so much, taicho," continued Renji, as Rukia stayed silent, still shocked from his outburst. "The biggest blessing in my life is the fact that she returns my feelings, and I swear to you that I will always protect her with everything I have, as long as I live and breath. Please, taicho, allow our union!" For a moment, Byakuya's sense of time froze. It felt surreal, what he was seeing, and he hoped dearly that it wasn't a cruel, cruel dream. This thing he had been trying to accomplish for so long...it was finally happening, and when he fully realized the reality of it, Byakuya couldn't help the rush of joy and happiness he felt. But before he could reply to Renji's request, Rukia assumed the same position he had taken and gave her own speech.

"Nii-sama, I trust Renji with my life, and he trusts me with his. We have held strong feelings towards each other since childhood, and we humbly ask that you will please give us your blessing for a marriage." Her plea was much calmer than Renji's, as expected, and Byakuya had to use every ounce of restraint in his body to resist jumping out of his chair and performing a happy dance. Instead, he closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself, and then reopened them as he began speaking.

"Renji, Rukia," he said to them, as they remained bowing on the floor, "Rise.'' They did so, standing up in unison and looking straight at the older shinigami, confidence and hope shining in the eyes of both.

"I have known you both for many years," began Byakuya. "I've watched you grow in skill and as shinigamis, and both of you have reached great heights and made huge strides in both areas. I have observed how you act towards one another, and how close and protective you are with and of each other. I believe the things both of you have told me, and I am confident that you both are completely serious about being with each other. As I have knowledge of the position you two are in, I am in no place to deny your request. I give you my blessing to become married, and I offer the Kuchiki manor as a site for the ceremony." The young shinigamis smiled, their faces brightening up as both thanked him profusely. Byakuya even allowed a small smile to crack his mask of emotionlessness, though his insides were much, much more joyful that what he was showing. This was indeed a great day...

...That was, until he remembered the things he had done to get Renji and Rukia to this point. Byakuya once again felt guilt flood him, and even while observing their blissful faces, he knew he had to tell them about the schemes. He owed it to the both of them to inform them of the things he done, to inform them of why they had gone through so much recently.

And just as he was about to open up his mouth and spill the beans, another knock sounded on the door. All three shinigamis present directed their attention to the noise, and Byakuya gave the okay for the person to come in.

"It seems like I've missed a party with how happy you all look," said Ukitake as he entered the office, smiling his normal smile. Before anyone could reply, he continued, "I just came here looking for Rukia." He directed his attention towards said woman. "Not to be a bother, but is there any way you could come back to the division? There's some extra paperwork that needs to be attended to and I could use some help." Rukia bowed to him immediately, turning very serious though she still hid a smile.

"Of course, taicho. I apologize for not reporting earlier." She headed for the door, before Ukitake stopped her.

"Why don't you let Abarai-san walk you?" he asked, and both Renji and Rukia's eyes widened. Ukitake added, "As long as it's fine with Kuchiki-taicho." Said captain nodded, and the two young shinigami departed, both smiling at each other.

As soon as the door closed, leaving the two captains alone together, the older said, "I suspected this would happen after Shunsui told me about the eavesdropping he did when he found you three in Rukongai." The white-haired man wore a knowing smile, and Byakuya sighed.

"I was about to tell them about my plans before you arrived," admitted the younger, looking down at his papers though he retained a mostly cold appearance. Ukitake frowned.

"...Are you sure you should do that?" he asked. Byakuya looked up at the other man, surprised. "Although I usually prefer honesty in every situation," continued Ukitake, "I think that, for this, it would be better of you to withhold that information from them." Byakuya's brow crinkled.

"Why?"

"Although I don't agree with everything you have done, telling them would only cause them both more stress and confusion than they need, especially right now. At the moment, I think...that they would not completely understand the purity of your intentions, and that they would misunderstand your efforts. It's better to let the dust settle and forget about it, at least for now. Let them be happy, and let their impression of you be unsullied." Ukitake's smile reappeared, and his statement made Byakuya think for a moment.

Maybe it was better to let it be, he decided. It would be better to simply allow Renji and Rukia to be happy together, rather than drop something like this on them, something that would make them question everything that was happening. They were together, and that was what mattered. Byakuya's feeling of joy spiked again, and he found himself happier than he had been in a long, long time.

Love had prevailed, and Byakuya could forever hang up his scheming hat...

...Unless, of course, his nieces and nephews ever had romantic issues.

END

Whelp, that was all she wrote-I wrote, that is. 2 years, 14 chapters, 79+ reviews, and a lot of writer's block. Once again, I thank you all for your support-it means more than you can ever know :) Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, and all reviews and comments are loved and appreciated.


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